Slytherin Sort Of Style
by Pure Black
Summary: Harry adopted a new attitude over the summer. When he's forced back to Grimmuldsplace he let it show in unexpected ways. Secret organisations. Old secrets are out in the open and Harry have decided to play his cards well. 5th book, REWRITTEN FEB 07 Dark!
1. Intro

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**Notes: This was previously called _'what about Harry' _but I've done some changes and I've decided that the previous title wasn't suiting for the story. **

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**SLYTHERIN SORT OF STYLE**

_**-CHAPTER ONE-**_

**BETA: **ObuletShadowStalker

**INFO: **This story is rewritten, major changes has taken place but it's not yet 100 percent.

**OTHER INFO:** www. live journal. com / users/draycious

**LINK: **http :// www. fanfiction. net /s/ 3040483 /1/ - _Don't deny what you know is true_

**WARNINGS: **Some swearing, nothing major. OOC

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"So, _lover boy_. What are you going to do today?" Harry glared at Tonks. He ignored her and walked right past her into the kitchen. Harry was back at Grimauld place against his will. Dumbledore and his bloody Order had forced him to spend his summer in this old house. While he didn't particularly like Dursleys, far from it, he still preferred their company over the Order's; and this house which only reminded him of his failure with Sirius. Yet, like always, he had no say in the matter, and once again his life was ruled by other people. He hated it, and he had fought their decision, but in the end he knew he couldn't win, so here he was. This didn't mean he adjusted, oh no, he had proved to be quite difficult for the inhabitants of the house, which mainly consisted of the Order. He didn't talk to anyone and he definitely didn't smile or laugh. He had settled on glaring and he was getting real good at it. Why should he act happy when he felt like his life was on the brink of ending? He had nothing left to bring any happiness in his life, at least not when it came to the anything the Order knew about… He _had _an unlikely source of happiness, and he had his fair share of secrets, but he couldn't let those be known, and since he was practically a prisoner in a house that he now owned… well, he couldn't bring said happiness into his life just yet.

"Come on Harry. Talk to us! Or at least someone, it doesn't have to be me or any adult!" Remus Lupin pleaded with him for what felt like the hundredth time in only a week. Harry's glare thrown in the werewolf's direction was in league with Snape's. Remus was the very reason he was in this blasted house to begin with. He had been one who had tricked him to take a portkey, and Harry would never forgive him for that betrayal. It was a trivial thing to most, but for him it meant something else. Every time he had been forced into taking a portkey something bad had happened, and Remus knew of this, yet he had done it. To Harry that meant Remus didn't really care about him or his feelings.

Since he couldn't be left alone in the kitchen he angrily turned on his heel and stomped up the stairs to the second floor. If he was lucky he would find some peace there. He was in a horrible mood. Ever since he had woken up this morning someone had constantly been around him, trying to drag him into a conversation which he wasn't even interested in to begin with. Once he reached his room he went inside and slammed the door which caused Mrs. Black's painting to scream her head off in the usual manor. He opened the door and stuck out his head when the Order members raced by to shut her up.

"SHUT UP YOU FUCKING HAG!" he screamed so it echoed and slammed the door shut again. The Order looked at each other in the heavy silence, which followed his fit of anger. Mrs. Black had obeyed Harry, but what a language he had used to conjure up that result! It scared the adults to come to the conclusions that those particular words were the first ones he had spoken this summer. The adults looked at each other. The boy they knew didn't swear.

"I don't know if that was an improvement of Potter... or not," Snape said slowly when no one else spoke. This brought them back to life, and they all went down to the kitchen, which was where their usual meetings were held.

* * *

The Order settled down in the kitchen after Harry's little display of emotions. 

"Did you tell him you're his new godfather?" Molly Weasley asked as she prepared a snack for them all.

Remus nodded and helped her to place butter on the table and a few butter knives.

"Yes I did," answered. He didn't look very happy about it.

"And he didn't say anything?" Molly asked him surprised. The Order had all discussed what could be done so Harry would speak again, and telling the boy had had a new godfather was considered a safe card for making him talk.

"No he didn't. He only frowned," Remus said and everyone could see he was worried about Harry's reaction. Snape who was seated in his usual corner spoke up.

"I don't see the why you're all worried. I personally see this as an improvement for Potter," Snape said. The crowd froze and looked at the man angrily. Even Dumbledore glared at Snape for that comment. Snape gave them all a look as if to say "what" but the others chose to ignore him.

"Hasn't the boy spoken to his friends?" Alastor Moody asked and looked around for someone to an answer him.

"They've tried talking to him but they didn't have any more luck than we did," Arthur Weasley said sadly. Music began playing from Harry's room upstairs. The music was dark, black, heavy metal. The Order had learned that they could judge what mood Harry was in from the music he played, and they all winced when they heard the metal. It meant that he was in a really shitty mood, and needed some quicker and darker music to vent his emotions. Mostly he played Rock, but he really listened to all kinds of music. The Order let him be, and never shouted at him to turn the volume down or to turn it off. At least they were happy Harry wasn't melancholic, he was just angry. He seemed saytified enough to be left alone and listen to his music. For as long as he had an interest in music and they would let him keep it up with it.

"This thing with Sirius really broke him," said Molly said and sat down. She inclined for everyone to begin eating the sandwiches she had made.

They all jumped when someone they didn't expect spoke.

"Did it?" A voice from the door said darkly. They were all shocked, not only had he spoken, but they had also expected him to be up in his room. After all, the music was still playing.

"Harry dear? Would you like some food?" Molly said quickly and motioned for him to sit down, but her hands and voice betrayed her. Her voice trembled with nervousness and her hands shook. Everyone in the room knew how critical this moment was. If anyone said something anything wrong then Harry would be out the door faster than they could say "twinkle," and the chances of Harry speaking more to them would drop to zero. Molly stood up as if to help him into the seat. Harry immediately took a step back.

"Sit down," he said cold and short.

"But-" Molly protested. The other members were watching the whole drama play out in front of their eyes with passivity. Eventually Molly gave up and simply sat down like Harry wanted her to do.

Harry looked at her searchingly. "There's no need to feed me," he said slowly but clearly. They noticed he didn't wear his baggy clothes today. Some days he would still wear them, even if they all knew he had new and better clothes somewhere up in his room. Today he wore black pants and a black shirt. It was simple but stylish. For more effect he also wore a silver belt. He didn't wear any glasses today. It was the same as with his clothes, sometimes he wore them and sometimes he went without. His now shoulder length black hair was behind one of his ears. He also wore an intimidating black fang on a leather rope around his neck. No one knew where he had gotten it from, and they were all quite apprehensive about asking him. Harry tended to be very defensive towards everyone this summer.

"You've changed," Tonks remarked. Harry didn't answer and pretended he didn't hear her. He went to the fridge and took a butterbeer from one of the lower shelves.

Molly couldn't keep quiet anymore, her mother instincts kicked in. "That' s alcoholic butterbeer, dear," she said. He barely looked at her as he closed the door but when he got the cap opener out from one of the drawers he leaned against the sink and faced them all. He looked at her steadily but with an expression devoid of any emotion as he slowly opened the bottle. He slowly raised the bottle towards his lips and drank audible without breaking eye contact with Molly. After he had gulped down almost half the bottle in one go he lowered it and wiped his mouth lazily.

"I know," he stated. The adults were too shocked to say anything and Harry began to walk towards the door. Once he reached it he was stopped by Snape's voice. He was the first one to recover, not a surprise considering his training as a spy.

"Potter, where did you get that belt?" Snape asked him sharply. Harry shrugged. "It's the Malfoy crest.!" Snape continued suspiciously. His black eyes were narrowed as he looked at Harry searchingly. Harry gave him a wry little smile.

"Oh, I didn't know," he said innocently before he disappeared through the door with a little laugh. Yes he had indeed changed, if only they knew how much…

* * *

The Order turned to Snape as soon as Harry was out of hearing range. For the time being they decided to ignore the troubled teenager. 

"What do you mean with 'Malfoy crest', Severus?" the headmaster asked and looked up over his moon glasses.

Snape nodded grudgingly. "You saw it. On the front of the belt there was a silver inscription of an M with a snake entwined around it. It's the Malfoy unofficial family crest."

"But how did he get it?" Shacklebolt asked.

"Severus, could you please look in to it?" Albus asked. His voice was grave and the people gathered didn't like it. Whenever Dumbledore sounded that grave there was almost always bad news to come.

Snape seemed surprised over the request. Usually he didn't have to snoop around for things like this, seeing as it could cause him to be suspected as a traitor. He always had to be subtle when he asked around, and asking about the Malfoy crest wasn't exactly subtle, it was painstakingly obvious. Oh well… he could find ways around that. He had before.

"I will... have a _talk_ with Lucius," he said darkly and secretively.

"Good, I don't want that boy to live through anymore grief. He has surely had enough. At least he is talking to us now, but I don't know what has gotten into him," Molly said thoughtfully and Arthur took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. A knock on the front door stopped them from talking more about Harry.

"There shouldn't be anyone here now!" Moody said and pulled out his wand. The others copied his move. Snape was the first one to open the door while the others were crowded behind him.

A young male was standing outside. He didn't look at all fazed over the fact that several adults were greeting him with their wands pulled. Nor did he seem surprised over the actual wands, so he had to be a wizard. His coal black hair was shining in the sun, and his grey eyes looked at them icily but he spoke to them in a neutral voice.

"Hello sir. I'm looking for Potter."

"You're a Malfoy," Snape stated with hidden surprise. The others didn't hide it as well as he did and they stared openly.

"No kidding?" said the Malfoy and made his way inside without carrying about all the wands pointed at him.

"But all Malfoy's are blonde! This one is has black haired!" Tonks said unintelligently. Snape rolled his eyes. People around him always seemed to state the obvious. Malfoy shook his head at her.

"You know as well as I do how easy it is to change hair color, Tonks," he said and looked her up and down. He took in her appearance, but didn't seem to like what he saw. Tonks looked offended and Shacklebolt laid an comforting hand on her shoulder.

"How do you know my name?" Tonks asked sternly to cover up her hurt pride. Malfoy shrugged.

"Ryan told me. How did you think I could possible find this house other wise? With all those wards and what not it's nearly impossible to find it even if you do have the address," he said with a snort. It was true, they had improved the wards since last summer, so it was difficult to find the house unless you had been there three times before. It was all made for Harry's sake. A Death Eater could get the address from someone who knew through means such as torture.

"Ryan?" everyone repeated. Neither of them knew who this "Ryan" was, and he certainly wasn't an Order member. The unknown man nodded. He was dressed in a similar to Harry, but he had short sleeves on his shirt instead of long. It wasn't a particularly warm summer day, because the wind was blowing pretty hard outside. Harry suddenly appeared in the stairs above them.

"Here already Darek? Not that I didn't expect you…" he said lazily but seemed genially pleased over his guest's appearance.

"I'm like what, two minutes early? Did I ruin your precious timetable Ryan?" Malfoy said sarcastically. Harry ( or was it Ryan?) gave Malfoy a small smile.

"Did you bring the CD?" he asked eagerly instead of commenting on what Malfoy said.

"Of course," he replied. "Do I ever forget something?" he asked arrogantly. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Don't even get me started on that, now come on, I'll show you to my room." The two of them began to walk upstairs.

"Hold on!" said Moody.

"What now?" Harry asked in a bored voice when he and the stranger stopped. They both leaned against the wall and looked down at the adults with bored expressions.

Moody continued with his questions. "Who is this man and why does he call you Ryan?"

"Ryan is another name for Harry. This is Darek Hudson... He is known as Draco Malfoy," he said and then the two of them hurriedly disappeared from view into Harry's room when all hell broke loose. All the adults raced after them at the sound of Darek Hudson's real name. The door to Harry's room slammed shut and was locked.

"He's a Death Eaters son for Merlin's sake! Don't you _ever_ stop to think Potter?" Snape yelled as he stopped outside the locked door. He had been the first one to arrive.

"Yeah? What does that make you, Death Eater!" Draco spat. "Or should I say _spy_?" Draco's voice taunted through the door.

"Harry! Open up please!" said Molly and while rapping on the door. There was no answer. Instead loud music began to play. Bill Weasley tried to spell the door open, being a curse breaker and all, but it didn't quite work and Bill got a new puzzle to figure out. The Order had no choice but to sit down outside and wait for Malfoy to come out. And that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

* * *

"Will you come home soon?" 

"I don't know Darek," Harry said with a sigh as they sat on his unmade bed and talked while listening to music. Draco sighed as well.

"We miss you," he said seriously. "It's time for us to come out in the open, don't you think? I mean, what are we waiting for now that Voldemort has shown his face?"

Harry shook his head.

"I just don't know" Harry said. Darek got up off the bed and went over to the windowsill and sat down. The window was open and rustled his black hair, making it look alive. Darek sat and watched him closely.

"How do you think Hogwarts is going to take the news, and your friends?" he continued to ask.

Harry have him a wry smile.

"I don't know that either. God I'm tired of saying 'I don't know', but I truly don't!" he exclaimed. "Lupin is my new guardian by the way," he added as it popped up in his mind. Darek smiled widely at that.

"Oh if only they knew," Darek said with glee in his voice. Harry stuck his tongue out as Darek began to cackle evilly. He had never quite gotten used to that particular laugh of Darek's. Harry drew up his knees and hugged them to his chest.

"You know, I did start to like Sirius. It wasn't just an act," he confessed. Darek knew everything about him, so he didn't need to explain the situation or his relations to other people.

"But not enough," Darek added.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked surprised. How would Darek know what he felt? And not enough? He had offered a lot of things to keep Sirius alive, even if he hadn't quite succeeded. He had done many other things through, he had helped an convict to escape, he had saved his life when the dementors came and many other things… all those things could get him thrown into Azkaban if they became known.

"I've done some research about the veil. It says that a person who falls through is able to come back if someone loves him or her enough."

"But I-"

"Obviously don't love him enough," Darek cut him off. It sounded harsh, but it was just his way.

Harry gave in. "Maybe not," he said. "But I'm sure Remus loves him enough!"

"Maybe. But why isn't he here in that case?"

"You must have missed something," Harry said and got up and started to pace in the room. Darek watched him curiously and thoughtfully. He wasn't known for missing out on things.

"Like what?" he asked.

"I don't know. Perhaps love isn't enough. Maybe you need to do a ritual or a charm of some sort," he reasoned. Darek nodded and thought it through.

"But for what? The body is supposedly intact, so is the magic… I can see no reason for a spell to be made." Harry shrugged.

"Don't ask me! I'm not the one who did the research about it!" He said with a hint of irritation. Darek shook his head at him.

" Don't take it out on me," he said and began to dig trough his pocket. "Here, I brought you some cigarettes. I know you've run out of them." Darek threw the packet over at him and he caught it easily, he wasn't a Seeker for nothing. He grinned at Darek in triumph who rolled his eyes.

"Thanks," he said gratefully and hurriedly lit one. He took a long, deep drag and relaxed slightly. "Man! I've waited for this for far too long!" he exclaimed as he exhaled.

"It's funny, isn't it? Cigarettes do wonders. Without them you're so tense and such a dickhead!" Harry couldn't find the energy to rebuke him for that comment. He simply smirked and inhaled again. He went over to Darek and joined him in the window. Since the window was huge they could both easily fit in it at the same take. They sat opposite from each other, each leaning on the side of the window.

"What do you expect? I'm addicted to them!" Harry said. Darek gave him a small knowingly smile. He did indeed know the boy before him was addicted to them, them and many other things…

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	2. Chapter 2

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**SLYTHERIN SORT OF STYLE**

_**-CHAPTER TWO-**_

**BETA: **ObuletShadowStalker

**INFO: **www. live journal. com /users /draycious

**OTHER:** Let me remind you of the story_** Don't deny what you know is true.**_

* * *

They listened to the CD three times more before they turned off the CD player and began to make their way out of the room. 

"Ryan wait!" Darek said when Harry had his hand on the handle.

"I know what you're about to ask, but no. I don't want to tell them just yet. Come back tomorrow and bring _him_ with you. We'll tell them then," Harry said with his back still turned toward Darek.

"Fine, I'll do so." Harry nodded, opened the door and Darek raced out the house before anyone in the Order could react. Harry decided it was time for some fun, well, fun for him at least.

"My, My! Getting old are we? I don't ever wish to see you engaged in a battle if you're going to move just as slow as you did now," he told everyone.

"What the hell are you thinking boy? To bring him, an _known_ enemy _here_?" Moody cried outraged. Harry looked at him icily. He would not be lectured by this man, or any other man.

"It's partly your fault, isn't it? I told you I didn't want to go here but _nooo_, you brought me here anyway. I guess you'll have to live with the consequences of your choices, just like everybody else." He enjoyed their looks of shock. They should have gotten used to it by now, but as it was, they never seemed to learn.

"Potter!" Snape said in a dangerous voice. It didn't scare him off. '_Trust Snape to take no bullshit,'_ he thought.

"Ah... Snape. Always a pleasure. What's your problem with me this time?" He asked. It was a stupid question of course, Snape always had a problem with him, whether it was actually real or not. Snape would soon find out that he was no longer going to take any crap from him. He would retaliate by tenfold with everything Snape did towards him.

"You revealed to Malfoy that I'm a spy. You've just given my life away," Snape snarled and showed off his ugly yellow teeth. He seemed really pissed off. In fact, Harry had never seen the man that angry before but he wasn't surprised. He too would be murderous if someone signed his death warrant.

"As much as I would have liked to, I never did. You see, Darek isn't brainless, like someone else here appears to be. He figured it out himself. He is very clever that one, isn't he?" he said in a pretended cheerful voice.

"What's it with those name games?" Remus asked.

"You'll find out soon enough," he said mysteriously. He turned to Molly.

"I'm rather hungry, you know. Is there any food?" He asked her.

Molly nodded, happy that he wanted to eat for once. "I'll make some," she said.

"Harry. I don't think you'll be eating anytime soon. I don't think you realize the graveness in what you've done here today. Everyone's lives could be in danger right now," Dumbledore said in a stern voice.

Harry tilted his head at the side. "Don't you trust me?" he asked innocently.

"Of course not! You've proven yourself to be incompetent of making right decisions before," Snape snarled. Harry lit on that one.

"Who the hell are you to speak? I'm not the one who decided to be a Death Eater!" he spat.

"It's in the past!" Snape defended himself immediately.

"_Exactly_, Snape. And so are my_ previous _decisions," he said smartly. Snape had dug his own grave for that one.

"The very same previous decisions that killed that mutt of yours!" Snape said viciously. Harry froze. A deadly silence erupted. Harry looked coldly at Snape. Without warning he shot a right hook strait into Snape's ugly face that made the man lose his balance and slide down the wall to the floor. Harry was stronger than he looked and red-hot anger ran through his veins, pumping adrenaline, making him stronger in the heat of the moment. Harry walked over to Snape and stood over him. He looked down at the man, and spat in his face.

"Now who is pathetic?" he said silkily. Then he changed attitude. "_He. Is. **Not**. Dead!_" he said in an ice-cold, scary whisper. Everyone heard it in the deadly silence which hung over them all. He looked at the people in the hall. To say they were shocked would be the understatement of the year.

"What about that food Mrs. Weasley?" he asked sweetly as if nothing had happened. She turned around and marched straight into the kitchen without exactly knowing what she was doing, or so it seemed.

"Harry! You're abusive, you're violent. We have noticed the change in you and we chose to ignore it, but now we can't do that anymore. You attacked your professor! We need you to do a psychological evaluation, and you need to take up therapy," Albus told him and there was no twinkle in his eyes.

Harry took a moment to respond. He would be damned if they forced him to see some shrink!

"Sirius always wanted to do what I just did. I did it for him since he is unable to do it himself anymore," he said and tried to make them guilty for giving him such a hard time about it.

"We know you're grieving over Sirius but this is unacceptable," Albus said. The others agreed verbally to that. Harry realized his status might be threatened and quickly tried to come up with something that could take him out of this mess, if only tomorrow would come quickly!

"You need to be yourself again. To be Harry Potter, the boy we know and love!" Remus said. Harry's cold eyes swept over all of them.

"Well I guess I'm the one to drop the bomb on you! I'm not Harry Potter! Harry Potter is dead!" he screamed and locked himself into his room. The music began to play again.

"Idiots" he laughed.

* * *

"What did he say? Harry's dead? He isn't Harry Potter?" Molly asked as she ran out of the kitchen. She clung to her husbands arm and demanded an answer.

"Why, I believe he did," said Snape as he painfully sat up and rubbed his jaw. That had been quite a swing.

"Do you believe him? I mean, he hasn't exactly behaved like our Harry," said Remus carefully. It might just have been something he had said.

"Do you think Harry's dead?" Hermione asked Remus. She had arrived at the end of the row, and had been watching it all act out in silence.

"No I don't. But I don't think he is up in that room right now. And I don't know where he could be," he said with a frown.

"I think he made it all up because he was mad," said Ron. He had some experienced in that department. His suggestion was taken apart a few seconds later.

"No. You see, he has a thing for telling the truth when he is mad enough to shout. Even things he hadn't planned on telling anyone comes out. I've noticed this habit of his, but I'm not saying that I believe he is dead either," said Ginny from a corner. Dumbledore sighed.

"Let's talk to him in the morning when things have calmed down. Besides, it's rather late now. I suppose I don't have to tell you I want you all ready first thing in the morning. We have to wait him out," said Albus. They all nodded in agreement, even Snape. Perhaps that punch had smacked some sense into him.

"We'll see to it," Remus said. He was tired too. His honey-colored eyes were filled with worry and Sirius' death hadn't exactly done wonders for his health.

* * *

Darek arrived once again in the morning. This time he didn't knock. He just opened the door and stepped inside.

"Good timing," a smiling Harry greeted him. No one had noticed that he was up.

"I'm known for it, aren't I?" Darek joked, but Harry suspected he actually meant it.

"Where is he?" Harry asked, turning serious.

"Right outside. I just wanted to check that everything was alright."

Harry nodded quickly.

"It is. Bring him," he told Darek. Behind them they could hear the Order arriving. They had finally noticed he had woken up. "Everyone... sit down in the kitchen," he said to them at once. He followed them himself and sat down on the edge table instead of a chair. Molly looked at him in disapproval but as usual he didn't care.

After a while Darek arrived with a tall cloaked, assumingly, _man _in tow. A hood covered the man's face. Moody growled.

"What is it that you people do to make me unable to see through you? I can't see his face and I can't look into your room Potter," Moody growled, clearly frustrated at being tricked like this.

"I am not Potter. And it is called magic," Harry said cheekily.

"You say you are not Potter, and that Draco is Darek. Then who are you people?" Snape asked. Today his face had an additional glorious black eye, complete with purple edging.

"Draco Malfoy is indeed one name on him. But his real, legal name is Darek Hudson. Draco Malfoy was his birth name given to him by his parents Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. The name that my biological parents gave me is indeed Harry Potter. My name now is Ryan Hudson. Darek is my brother," he explained.

Lupin opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. "But..."

"Yes Lupin?" he asked patiently.

"I... When?" he managed to get out.

"Time to see and old face from the past, huh?" he said turning to the mysterious man.

"I believe so," said the cloak-hooded man. He was about to take it off but surprisingly Snape stopped him.

"Wait," he said and gestured to the man. He then looked at Harry. "Something is off with you Potter. You look even more different than you did yesterday", said Snape.

"Three guesses as to what has changed!" said Darek.

"His eyes!" Hermione breathed.

"Brown. Just like James's were," Remus said in astonishment.

"Yours too are changed, Draco!" Snape commented.

"Now hood-man! Show yourself," said Moody impatiently. He could care less about eye color.

Harry laughed quietly together with Darek. Slowly the man took of his hood. Snape, Lupin, McGonagall, Hagrid and Albus all gasped when the hood came off. The others looked dreadfully confused and tried to get a better view around the other people in the front.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

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**SLYTHERIN SORT OF STYLE**

_**-CHAPTER THREE-**_

**BETA:** ObuletShadowStalker

**INFO:** www. livejournal. com /users /draycious

**LINK**: _http// www. fanfiction. net /s/ 2104361 /1/_

* * *

Tonks tried to peak over Snape's shoulder but didn't quite manage since Snape was so much taller than she. The only thing she managed to do was to lean her head against Snape's back, and he quickly shook her off. Snape turned around and pushed her back. He didn't want any physical contact with anyone, and least of all with her. It looked quite funny, like pre -school kids having a fight. 

Tonks let out a frustrated sigh and gave up, for the moment. "Who are you?" Tonks asked confusedly from behind Snape.

"I'm Duff Hudson."

Remus's eyes widened when he heard that. "I... you're alive! We assumed you were dead!" Remus stammered out and looked flushed.

"Never assume," Duff said in a half dark voice. He sounded just like Harry and it made everyone do a double take.

"Excuse me? Can anyone tell me what's going on?" Molly demanded. Apparently she didn't know this man.

"Lupin, why don't you explain for them? I will fill you in later since you haven't got the missing pieces," Duff said confidently. Lupin nodded and cleared his voice before he began the tale.

"Okay. It started back in Hogwarts while I was still in school with Sirius and Severus and… well you know who else," he said with a remembering smile. The others nodded. They knew all about it, having heard many marauder tales. "We had only just begun our fifth year when Albus suddenly announced that a new boy had arrived and he would be in the same year as me. His name was Duff Hudson," when he said that he received "Aha's" from everyone. Remus ignored this and continued. "He was sorted into Slytherin. After only one week we marauders noticed a lot of people surrounding Duff. Girls turned and looked after him in the corridors, you know, that sort of thing." Everyone nodded. During some point in their life they had all seen it or experienced it themselves. School would always be school after all. "We became curious of course because no other Slytherin had ever effected people in that way before and now a Slytherin was suddenly turning the heads of all the houses," Remus told them. "No one minded he was a Slytherin. I guess we sort of began to spy on him. We noticed that he didn't talk much, he liked being on his own and he had a certain thing for smoking."

Remus stopped and grinned at the memory. They could all see he was reliving some found memories from his youth. Remus shook himself and continued.

"Meanwhile he was dark, mysterious and you could feel a powerful aura around him that meant he was very powerful magically. He always had a thing for being perfectly cool and he had style. He also talked with a coolness in his voice on the edge of being cold; a fine balance that he managed to pull off. Duff helped students with problems and sometimes he talked them out of trouble with the teachers. He was mature and when he talked everyone simply obeyed without a fuss. He was like a celebrity and every guy in school wanted to be just like him. We marauders began to talk to him but he didn't reveal much about himself or his past. But he didn't dislike us, I think…" Remus said uncertainly and glanced at Duff who gave nothing away. He simply stood there and listened.

"Anyway, he was good at magic and was at the top of his classes without ever having to put any effort into it. He was the students' safety line in school, calm, clever, collected and cool. Until one day when it all changed," Remus paused. Either it was a dramatic pause or he was simply trying to review the memory and make sense of it. Remus frowned and said: "He disappeared during our 7th year, just like that," he said and snapped his finger. "His disappearance was talked about for years after. You see, on that same day there was a Death Eater attack in Hogsmeade village and he had been there during the attack. So everyone thought he had been killed or something. That's all I know," said Remus and shrugged in apology.

Duff nodded to him.

"Can you tell us what really happened?" Albus asked Duff.

"I could, yeah," Duff said lazily. When everyone looked at him in question he decided to explain the situation. "I'm an American, I've always been. I ran away from my family when I was 15. That's how I ended up in Hogwarts. The circumstances are irrelevant. When I was 17, I left Hogwarts to go back to USA. Everyone thought I went to Hogsmeade that day but I didn't. I wasn't even close to that place during the attack. Once I was back in the USA I became an agent in a unit which resembles the muggle CIA, in the case the wizard's CIA."

"When you were only 17?" Tonks interrupted with awe. Everyone knew that the wizarding world's CIA did things a bit differently than the muggle one. For one they had a lot of secret missions going on. It was every Aurors' dream to became an agent of the CIA, it was better than being and unspeakable by far. Then again that depended on what kind of unit you belonged to within the CIA.

Duff nodded his affirmative to Tonks. "Yes. However, I became a spy on my first mission. I was a spy, it doesn't matter if I tell you now since the case is closed. After a few months I went back to England and joined Voldemort," he said and everyone took a deep breath. They couldn't believe it. Snape's left eye began to spasm funnily. Duff looked directly at Snape as he spoke. " I'm the Death Eater who has had you confused for years, Snape. I'm the one that you've never managed to identify." Snape nodded grimly. It couldn't be easy for Snape to have the very thing he had been searching for years simply being told to his face, in front of everyone.

"The reason I joined Voldemort was related to my mission for the WCIA. I can't tell you any further about that, it's _classified_. God I love that word when it's not thrown in my direction!" Duff exclaimed and Harry laughed openly. He loved Duff's sense of humor. "Anyways, after a while I heard that the Potter's had been killed. I heard that Harry had survived the attack, which was pretty amazing in itself. I am sure we all agree on that," Duff said and looked at Snape again who gritted his teeth and kept quiet while the others shouted their affirmatives.

Duff didn't comment on Snape's behaviour and neither did anyone else.

"I went to the Dursley's as soon as I found out where he was placed. I pretended I was coming from the magical world's authorities and I told them I was to meet Harry every day. At the same time I knew Lucius Malfoy had a one year old son. I never did like Lucius so I decided to take his son away from him. I knew Lucius wasn't fit to be a father, and I knew his son would be better off with me. Therefore I pretended to be Draco's care keeper, you know, nanny, during the day. I brought Draco with me to see Harry every day until I took them both to my own house in the US. I raised them as my own. I adopted both of them when they turned two. I had no trouble getting the papers signed from the muggles. Lucius was a bit tricky, since I had to fool him into signing something he didn't understand, but I managed to pull it off as well," Severus looked very impressed when he heard that. Everyone knew Lucius Malfoy was a cunning business man, and a master of contracts and finding loopholes. Duff must have been darn good to beat Lucius at his own game.

"I also taught them how to act, lie and deceive people like the perfect spy. When they turned 11 I allowed them to begin at Hogwarts or else you, Albus, would have gotten suspicious. I got Harry, called Ryan by us, to act like as if he had never heard of the wizarding world before and act as if he had always been with the fucking Dursleys. Draco, our Darek, on the other hand was to act like a Malfoy. So naturally they had to act like enemies. Because when was the last time you saw a Malfoy and Potter get along? It was a complete turn around in their personality to act their new roles, but they did it well. Usually they both act like me. They're like my own kids and not many see a difference between the three of us. They think they're my biological sons. I can't tell you why we had to pretend like this nor can I tell you why we did it in the first place." Everyone nodded. "Another hard part was to get Lucius to show his face in public together with Darek, since it was essential for the story to be believable. Lucky for me I have some pretty good stuff on Lucius which he would rather not become of public knowledge, so he went along with the plan and I have never had any problems of getting his attention and cooperation when required."

The three Hudson's let the information sink in on the others. In the meantime they raided the fridge.

"Duff, have you heard from Jack?" Darek asked as he sniffed an unlabeled bottle.

"Yeah dad! Have you?" Harry asked excitedly.

Duff nodded and put on his stern face, though a smile was playing at his lips. "Yeah I did. He said he had 'a thousand ready', what's that by the way? He refused to tell me, the old dimwit."

"He smuggled a 1000 packages of cigarettes to us," Harry said. They had no secrets between them, and Duff was a pretty liberal father. He allowed his sons to do pretty much whatever they wanted, under the circumstances that they could handle it. There were times when Duff had to step in, and act like a real parent should but he didn't have to do that very often. He always had a watchful eye on his sons, and was there to stop them from committing a stupid mistake.

Duff hummed and tried to look nonchalant when he said, "Any chance that I can take part in it then?"

"Duh! The deal has already been made. If you want those fags you'll have to pay, sweet father O'mine!" Darek said in a sing-song voice.

"And pray tell, who got you the money to buy them in the first place?" Duff said dryly. Harry wiggled his finger in front of his dad.

"It doesn't count you know. As a parent you're doomed to pay!" Harry lectured. Darek nodded eagerly at his side and they gave each other a devilish grin.

"Bloody Slytherins," Duff said darkly. He looked threateningly at them but they weren't effected by it. They had long since grown immune from that. Right about the time they were three and had refused to stop peeing in the bed after they had been convinced there was a toilet monster down in the porcelain God.

"In or not?" Darek asked his father, giving him an ultimatum.

"We can keep you out of it you know, and take it all ourselves. It's going to bring us a sweet income."

"Exactly," Darek nodded.

"How's it gonna be?"

Duff thought seriously for a few seconds before he nodded.

"I'm in," Duff said. He would pay his pennies to get his share of the deal his two sons had made with an Colombian tobacco dealer.

"Wait a minute! That's no way of being a parent! You can't seriously let them deal in illegal business!" Molly and her mother instincts said outraged. She was about to blow up a storm, (take out, 'a storm,' its not grammatically correct) and everyone knew it. Luckily Duff decided to put her back in her place.

"Don't you dare tell me how to be a parent! I've raised those two just fine. On top of that we're Slytherins, all three of us, and I work at the WCIA. I think I know what I can do and what I cannot do very well, lady. You question a lot of peoples' parenting skills when it comes to Ryan but let me remind you right here and now that Ryan is MINE. I don't want to hear any complaints, got that?" he said quietly but he made it sound like a threat and he got his point across. Molly nodded reluctantly.

"But in Harry's birth record and legal papers there is no notice of your adoption," Albus added confused. Duff rolled his eyes.

"Of course not!" he said. "What, do you think I'm stupid or something? I don't work for the WCIA for nothing. In fact, Ryan and Darek have a part in the WCIA as well. They are very skilled young men."

"Raised to kill," Harry muttered.

"Kill?" Hermione squeaked and paled. The people in the room didn't put it below Duff to teach them that, they put nothing past that man. He was dangerous!

"Well, if it comes in handy," Darek said and Harry hit him on the arm for causing a stir. He shook his head.

"No, that's not what I meant. What I meant was that it's my destiny to finish Voldemort," he told them. He could see by the look of their faces that most of them had already known about it, but not the teenagers.

"Merlin!" Ron said with big eyes.

"Indeed," Duff said dryly before turning to his sons. "Darek, Ryan. Get ready. We'll leave in two minutes. We'll be back though," he added to the rest.

"Where are you going?" Tonks asked Duff.

"We're going to pick up someone." Harry raised an eyebrow when he heard that. He knew of many people they could be getting, but he couldn't imagine which one it was.

"Blaise Zabini," Darek whispered in his ear after settling for a butterbeer in the fridge.

"Of course," he nodded. They said their lazy good byes and went outside the house. From there they apparated and the Order was left behind to discuss the new turn of events.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

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* * *

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**SLYTHERIN SORT OF STYLE**

_**-CHAPTER FOUR-**_

**BETA: ObuletShadowStalker**

**INFO:** www. live journal. com /users /draycious

**LINK:** The story: The Dark Castle. Read the warnings.

* * *

Duff, Darek and Harry were standing in an alley in muggle London. Duff decided what the next step of action in their plan would be. 

"You two," he told them. "Apparate to Blaise's house in Hewit City. Bring him here and wait for me to come back."

"What cha gonna do?" Darek asked Duff. Duff looked pretty grim but when he spoke the two teens didn't notice anything different in him. "I'm going to report to WCIA about what we're doing."

"Are they finally going to allow our documents to be viewed by the public or will they still be classified?" Harry asked curiously. He needed to know what would happen, so he could prepare for the press, who would no doubt report about the new situation. There would always be a leak in the Ministry, it had been that way forever. People couldn't keep a secret even if it killed them.

"Yes Ry, hopefully they will. Anyhow I'll inform Blaise's dad we'll borrow his son for a while," Duff said with a smile.

"Got it."

Blaise had been their friend for many years now. He had been there since the beginning and knew of the double life they were living. Blaise was in on it too and played along, even if he had to keep himself pretty much anonymous in school. Blaise's dad _Arrow_ worked together with Duff on some missions. They were partners and teamed up whenever their assigned missions required two people. Duff and Arrow were also best friends since they were kids, so Ryan, Darek and Blaise had been friends from the very beginning of their life.

"One last question. Why exactly are we getting Blaise?" Harry asked confused. His two family members stared at him as if he were some kind of exotic bird.

"Have you forgotten we're going to the Caribbean?" Duff asked him astonished. His son never used to forget anything. Harry felt his face heat up as he nodded.

"Eh... Yeah," he confessed and looked away. Darek shook his head and smacked him over the head.

"How the hell can you forget such a thing?" Darek asked incredulously. Harry immediately got defensive.

"Hey! I've had other things on my mind! I was kidnapped by the order for heavens sake!" he said and glared.

"Right... whatever," Darek muttered. Duff shook his head and gave them a small smile. One day he would get gray hair early from being around those two. He gave them a nod and disappeared soundlessly.

The two off them stared at the empty spot for a moment until Darek shook himself. "Here we go then, I'm off," said Darek and apparated. Harry followed him shortly after.

The laws for underage magic didn't apply for them anymore and it never had in the USA. That's why they were able to apparate at the age of 16. It wasn't exactly an easy thing to achieve while being sixteen. At that age their magic hadn't reached its full potential. It would only happen after they had turned 17. Yet it paid of having a dad that worked for the WCIA. They got special treatment and special training, so they could perform such magical recourses.

* * *

The two of them walked confidently up the main road to toward Blaise's enormous house. Huge green lawns surrounded the house. They were well trimmed and the edges of the bushes near the road were neatly cut. It looked like a rich man's house, which was indeed the case. 

A butler opened the door when they rang the bell. Blaise lived in a muggle area and therefore they couldn't have a house elf opening the door in case it was a muggle that rang on the bell. However, they did have house elves inside the house, well hidden from curious muggle eyes.

"Mister Hudsons," the butler said with a fond smile when he spotted them. He was used to having them around.

"Where's Blaise?" Darek asked in a demanding tone. Sometimes Darek got caught up in the snotty act he played at school.

"He's eating lunch in the dinner room. Let me take you there, sirs." The butler motioned for them to follow but Harry stopped him with a gentle hand on the shoulder.

"No need Albert. We know our way around," Harry said kindly.

"As you wish Mr. Hudson," the butler said to Harry and gave him a little bow. The two of them left the butler on his own demise and went to the dinner room. What met them was the sight of Blaise eating like he had been starved for days.

"Quit stuffing your face!" Darek said as he strode forward in a quick pace, somehow managing to look exactly like his biological father; Lucius; at that moment. Blaise looked up startled. He thought he had been alone.

"What are you doing here?" he cried and successfully managed to knock over his glass so the red liquor ran all over the white linen cloth.

"Dammit!" The black haired man swore and frantically tried to wipe it off the table with a napkin. It was a lost cause even from the beginning.

"How graceful of you," Harry said dryly as his brother snorted.

"I see all your manners have subdued, both your table manors _and _your hospitality," Darek added.

Blaise looked up at them, clearly frustrated over the mess he had made. "Quit the crap! I don't need to keep up the illusion over the summer when only our dads are around," Blaise spat defensively.

"Oh please! It's not an act. You do have certain invincible rules and expectations around you," Darek reminded him. "View them as the invisible golden rules, the unwritten laws."

Blaise snorted and stood up. He threw the used napkin down on the table. "Yeah, like being dark, have manners, icy emotions and a sarcastic mouth. Aren't we all tired of that?" Blaise asked in a bored voice.

"Indeed. However, we're here to pick you up and not to remind you of your place. You need to go back to your act again," Darek told him seriously.

"Don't listen to him!" Harry interrupted with a roll of his eye. "We've finally told everyone about our family situation. They know who we really are and what we're really like. They know that I'm acting Slytherin-ish and all that shit. I did however act like a real fucked up Slytherin. I never told them I could be relaxed and act kindly around family and friends," said Harry and glared at his brother. The Slytherins had always been viewed as cold, and he had played that act in front of the Order. How the Slytherins interacted with each other was a totally different view from the public one.

"So I guess I'll have to act like the 'bad' Slytherin but not the Slytherin that hated the-boy-who-lived and that my greatest wish is to be a death eater?" Blaise summoned up.

"Exactly," Harry said with a confirmative nod and gracefully stole a few fries from Blaise's abandoned plate. Blaise shrugged when he saw that. He didn't mind. He was finished anyway.

"I can act like that," Blaise told them. "It's no big deal. Now let's go. I think I can dare to say Duff is speaking with my dad right now, right?"

"Right," Darek said absently. He was currently eating strawberries from Blaise's dessert. Harry joined his side and happily munched away on the treat.

"For Christ's sake! Let's go!" Blaise said and grabbed both the other boys' arms and dragged them outside the house and apparated.

Blaise knew they were both weak for strawberries and had a very soft spot when it came to that particular fruit. If he let them have one he had to wait until they had eaten them all or a fight would break out. They were like children in that aspect. Today he had been lucky he didn't get hexed for taking them away from the red Gods.

* * *

"Hi there Duff," Blaise greeted his best friends dad. 

Duff were leaning against the wall of the same alley they had met in before. They usually met up in there whenever something was up.

"I see you made it boys. We're just going to apparate to Grimauld place again and go inside to inform the Order about our vacation… and... perhaps... about Sirius' whereabouts? What do you think?" he asked them slowly.

"Go for it." Harry said in an uncaring voice. He didn't have any energy to bother with it. He trusted his dad to take care of it. Harry wasn't even sure anyone could help Sirius out of the veil. According to Darek it required a great deal of love, and in that case Remus was their only hope. He doubted Snape could get him out. Either way Harry wasn't sure Remus would be enough. He had abandoned Sirius for a very long time while the man was in Azkaban, so how much love was there between the two of them? Remus hadn't fully believed in Sirius's innocence until Harry's third year, when Remus had seen Peter on the map with his own eyes. No, he didn't think their connection were as strong as it had once been.

"Blaise, Arrow sent a message through me to you. Apparently you're forbidden to fuck the girls without the rubber," Duff said and threw a condom package to him.

"Right..." said Blaise slowly over the Hudson children's twin sniggers. Blaise slipped the package down into his back pocket.

"You can shut up now!" Duff told his boys with a sadistic smile in place. He held out a package to each of his 'twins'.

"You wouldn't!" Darek cried mortified over the whole ordeal.

"Does it look like I wouldn't?" said Duff with an evil grin.

"Fine!" the 'twins' said in chorus and slipped their own package in their pockets. They sulked like one and Blaise threw them a triumphant grin.

"Get rid of that smirk before I slap it right off your face!" Harry spat angrily. Blaise smiled innocently but no one was truly fooled by that look, least of all Harry.

"Let's go inside. Did you inform Blaise about the situation we've got here?" Duff asked them as he opened the door for them.

"Yeah," Harry said as he slipped through the scarce opening.

Duff opened the door wider. "Good. Then you know what to do Blaise," he said in a low voice. Blaise nodded and the rest of them followed Harry inside.

* * *

"They're back!" Tonks hollered when they entered the kitchen. Unfortunately Remus had been standing right in front of her, and he winced as the loud noise filled his sensitive eardrums. It wasn't always easy living with Tonks while being a werewolf. Tonks never seemed to take his condition in consideration, it was as if she didn't care he could hear up to ten times better than humans. 

"Excellent conclusion," said Snape sarcastically as he joined them in the hall. He had slipped in like a shadow. He always seemed to do that soundlessly and Tonks actually jumped at his voice. She blushed when Snape smirked at her.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" Duff said to Snape. It wasn't really a question, it was more of a statement and Snape inclined his head slightly.

"I suppose," Snape replied and Harry was fascinated over the attention he paid Duff. It looked suspiciously like Snape was sucking up to him. "Good, I wouldn't want you any other way," Duff said with a smirk. Harry and Darek exchanged looks. There was defiantly some history between Snape and their dad, but they had never been told about it. Harry looked at Blaise who shook his head ever so slightly. Apparently he had no clue either. Snape seemed very pleased over Duff's words.

It hit Harry that perhaps Duff had been Snape's idol! It certainly seemed that way and he wouldn't be surprised if Lupin felt that way as well! The man had practically said so when he told his tale earlier on.

_Everyone who went in school together with Duff admires him_, Harry thought surprised. _Cool! That must mean they're going to like Darek and me above everything else in school since Duff raised us to be just like him, if you over look the fact that we talk a bit more. At least Darek does. I've only ever spoken when someone else spoke to me first. Come to think of it, I'm very sure I'm functioning as a human being that way. _He was a bit surprised about the sudden self knowledge. Apparently you didn't need to read Freud's book to achieve that

"Blaise," Snape said sharply when he noticed his student. "You're in this as well?" Snape asked. Blaise looked at him oddly and perhaps a bit affronted.

"Of course. You know I'm Darek's friend in school," he murmured.

The Order had all gathered in the hall and Duff thought it was time to tell them what they had come for in the first place.

"There is one more thing I think you would like to know. Sirius Black isn't dead," Duff said.

"So we've heard," Snape said and touched his sore jaw unconsciously.

"Did you now?" said Duff and glanced sideways at Harry who didn't give anything away. He would find out soon enough, the Order had never learned how to keep their mouths shut.

"He said it yesterday when he hit Snape," Ginny spoke up bravely. She did however move behind Ron as soon as she said it and Duff's gaze fell upon her.

"Don't hide like that. Stand up straight and come over here!" Duff said icily and held out a hand. Ginny shook in fright. Molly took a step forward but Duff's glare stopped her from going any further. Duff took Ginny's arm and dragged her towards her.

"Ginny Weasley," he hissed out. "Pleasure to meet you. My Ryan saved your sorry little ass a few years ago, or so I've heard." Duff looked at her and Ginny barely breathed in fight. They all knew right in that second that Duff was not a nice man, in fact, he was quite the opposite. His name might not sound dangerous, but he was.

"Y-yes Sir."

Duff smirked. "You had a crush on him as well," he stated and glanced over at Harry who still didn't show anyone what he was thinking. "Do you still feel that way?" he asked her softly.

"I-I don't know," she whispered.

"Are you afraid of me?" he asked her and her blue eyes were wide open. Duff always took pleasure in frightening people. He didn't know why, he just liked to do it. She nodded.

"Why?"

"I don't know," she whispered. She seemed to be on the edge of tears now.

"Remove your shirt." Duff's command hung in the air between them and everyone was shocked. What kind of man was he, standing there before them, commanding that? Darek shifted restlessly on the spot but didn't say anything. He trusted Duff to know there was no need to be alarmed.

"Get your filthy hands of her!" Molly shouted and was held back by her husband when she intended to storm over and take Ginny back. Ginny looked at Harry with pleading eyes but Harry stared at a spot somewhere above Snape's head and ignored everything that was going on in front of him. He had gotten pretty good at ignoring things since he began at Hogwarts. After all, what you didn't know couldn't hurt you. _If I ever hear a more fucked up saying I'll go kill myself, _Harry thought.

Duff pointed a finger at Molly. "Shut up Molly. I'm not going to rape your daughter. I can get women in my own age if I want to and even if I didn't I would touch her," He said and mentioned for to begin undress. Ginny hesitated until she tried to remove her blouse clumsily.

Duff watched her for a while until all of his patience had disappeared.

"For Christ sake! Hands up in the air!" Duff said impatiently. He dragged the blouse off of her in one swift movement. She stood in her bra in front of everyone and trembled. She tried to cover what he could with her arms.

"Turn around so I can see your back." Now, Harry began to watch what was going on with interest. He pretty much knew what Duff was doing by now. Duff touched her back and she jerked away at the feel.

"Stand still!" he hissed. He touched her again and was rewarded with a flinch he chose to ignore.

He looked grim when he spoke next. "You received this mark when Voldemort possessed you, didn't you?" he asked her. She gave him an anxious nod.

"What happened? How did you get it?"

"You-Know-Who cut me when I was too weak to move, down in the chamber right before Harry arrived. He needed some of my blood to take over my magic so he would grow stronger."

Duff nodded. "Alright," he finally said. "Put your shirt back on, I've seen enough," He said and tossed it to her. Ginny practically ran over to her mother who helped her put it on again.

"I just wanted to have a look at her scar, or mark rather," he told his audience. "I needed to make sure it wasn't magical," he explained.

"What if it would have been, what would have happened then?" Arthur asked.

"Then she could easily have been possessed again. But since that's not the case, so you needn't worry." Arthur nodded while Molly looked at Duff suspiciously. She clearly didn't trust the man.

"What was that you said about Sirius?" Remus asked once everything had calmed down.

"He's been retrieved and is currently resting at the WCIA headquarters." Blaise, Ryan and Darek looked at Duff quickly. That was news to them as well. Harry gave Duff a sharp look. He needed to be informed about those sort of things!

"Some agents of ours found a way to bring him back. Originally it had to be done by someone who loved him but let's just say we found our ways around that. Black needs two full days of rest before we can leave him in your hands to recover fully. However, the four of us won't get the opportunity to see him," Duff said and inclined the tree teenagers and himself.

"Why not?" Remus asked them and looked at Harry. Remus didn't really care about what the others did, but he wanted Harry near.

"We're leaving for a well earned holiday. You'll see the kids again when school starts up." Remus didn't look very happy at that, and neither did the order. They wanted to keep and eye on Harry themselves, for various reasons.

"Is that really necessarily? I'm sure Sirius wants Harry to be here when he arrives!" Remus said concernedly. Harry opened his mouth to respond but was beaten by Duff.

"We'll send him a flower," Duff said with an evil smirk. Harry shook his head amusedly. All of them went outside the house, during the whole conversation they had stayed right inside the door.

"Let's go boys," Duff said and together they apparated to the sunny Caribbean's.

* * *

Harry stood looking out over the ocean. The soft breeze played with his hair and the emerald green water. They were living in a private beach house near a beautiful lagoon. A small waterfall coming down from cliffs made the water brake into soft waves around it. The beach in front of him was sandy-white and soft. It was peaceful and quiet, a perfect place for reflections. 

"Enjoying the view?" Darek asked quietly when he came to stand beside him. Harry sighed. So much for the peace and quiet. He put on smile and turned to his brother.

"Definitely," he replied.

"Wanna go for a swim? Dad and Blaise are already on their way. I thought I'd check up with you first."

"Yeah, sure. I'll join you. I just have to change into my swim trunks, it will only take a sec," He said. He might as well join them and have some fun, after all that's what he was here for. Darek nodded.

"Hurry up! We're only waiting for _oh_ so long!" Darek shouted at his retreating back. Harry smiled. It took him a minute to get ready and even so the other men walked around restlessly, eager to get in. It was a hot day and they were all dying for a swim to cool down.

"One, two, three RUN!" Harry yelled. They ran barefoot and free over the beach down to the edge of the water. He jumped into the perfect temperature water. It wasn't too hot to cool him off, but it wasn't too cold either, perfect!

"This is great! Remind me again why don't we do this everyday?" Blaise said when he floated around lazily on his back.

"Yeah. Ain't life grand?" Darek said with a thousand dollar worth smile. Even Duff wore quite a goofy expression, revealing to everyone the man was content. Yet it wasn't as if they had never been on an expensive vacation before. They had been to plenty of places, each one more exotic than the other. They had seen so much in their lives, but they still had a lot left to see. Duff had contacts everywhere, telling him about places that weren't for tourists, but were a goldmine for those selected few who knew about it. If there was something Harry hated, it was fighting with other tourists over a place at the beach. He didn't like crowds. There was nothing relaxing about it. Therefore he was quite happy about this place, it suited him just fine.

* * *

Later that day Harry wrote a letter to Sirius. He felt he owed the man that much. Sirius wasn't so bright (happy) from time to time, but he had tried his utmost to keep Harry safe and happy. 

_Dear Padfoot, _

You've probably heard about me from Moony by now, or perhaps somebody else told you. They probably said I've changed, and not to the better. I'm not saying that's a lie, but I'm not saying I'm a bastard either because you can't really say that about your self, can you?

He chuckled a little when he wrote that. He thought Sirius would appreciate the dry humor in the letter if he ever got to read it.

_I've only just come back from a swim with the guys... it's lovely here. I can't tell you where I am, but I can give you some hints. It's hot, there are white beaches and palm trees. Now, I am aware that this description goes for a lot of places, but I never said I'd make things easy for you, did I? Now it's up for you to figure it out. _

_There is something I've been dying to tell you. I knocked Snape down the other day, I got the bastard real good! Ask Moony for all the details, or better than that, ask Snape himself! Promise me to take a picture of his face when you do so…_

_I suppose you're a bit confused right now. I know I'd be if someone I knew turned out to be nothing like I'd known the person as, but I want you to know something. I like you Sirius. I never pretended to do so, because I never needed to. I know you've been trying to be like a father to me and you probably would have been if Duff hadn't beaten you to it. Since he began raising me at an early stage of my life it feels natural to have him as my father. _

_  
You've tried very hard to be there fore me and I appreciate that, you're like a second father to me. Besides, You've got an attitude like an American and I can't resist that, being raised in the US and all that. I hope you'll like the real me because the real me is pretty wild and crazy at times, just like you are._

_I hope you're still willing to be my second father. I know I'd like you to remain as such. I'm not going to brake contact with any of the others (you can tell them that) unless they wish to brake it with me first. I've never lied much to you about the Dursley's. It's true they were horrible, especially when Duff couldn't be around when he was on missions. I was left with them during those times because the blood magic had to stay intact or else Dumbledore or somebody else would notice my absence. Hell always broke loos when I was with them. Duff could be gone for weeks, for months even and there I was, stuck with the family from hell. _

Neither have I lied about my loyalties. I've never been on Voldemort's side, believe me. I am indeed involved in some illegal business from time to time, but I'm no worse than Mundungus.

_I'm a trustable guy. I don't betray people who confidence in me and I'm not an easy person to persuade things which doesn't agree with my believes. Even I don't envy those who tries to make me change my mind. I'm still your stubborn Harry Potter I guess. I think I've learned that from Darek or something. He can be a real pain in the ass._

_I just want you to know that you can always talk to me and trust me. I'd never betray you, I'd rather die, remember?_ _Once, in my third year you were the one saying, "I'd rather die than betray my friends."_

_That's my trademark, Sirius. _

I'm eager to let you know I'm happy you're back among us, I wish you a quick recovery. But I want you to be very careful! I don't think anyone wants to loose you again (well maybe Snape) and I certainly don't want to see you get killed again!

I'll see you around Sirius.

Love,

R.H H.J Potter

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

**SLYTHERIN SORT OF STYLE**

_**-CHAPTER FIVE- **_

**BETA: Kiritsu**

**INFO: www. livejournal. com / users/ draycious**

* * *

"Woah that's one of a hell letter you've got there!" Blaise said. Harry looked up. He shrugged lightly. He didn't mind Blaise reading it or anything. There were no secrets between them. 

"I guess," he said lightly and blew on the parchment so the ink would dry. Blaise sat down in the sand beside him.

"I take it it's to Black then?" he said. This was the typical way Blaise opened a conversation when he wanted to know if the other was alright.

"Yeah."

"I see... Is everything Okay?" Harry had been expecting the question and answered it honestly.

"I'm fine." Perhaps he wouldn't have said that before he went on this vacation, but since he had gotten here all his troubles seemed to dissolve into nothing. Life back in England seemed so far away at this place. Almost like a dream, he thought as he looked out over the ocean, and the green palm trees gently swaying with the warm wind.

"Good because if you ever want to talk..." Blaise let it be unsaid but Harry understood anyway.

"Thanks," he said quietly. Blaise patted his shoulder in a friendly gesture and Harry cracked a smile.

"Duff and Darek are making dinner," Blaise told him and Harry wrinkled his nose. Darek was no good in the kitchen if it wasn't about doing all the eating, everyone knew that! "We'll stay here all night but we will go down-town tomorrow," Blaise continued and Harry felt much happier to hear this.

"Party time!" Harry shouted and did a pretended dance with a partner. Blaise laughed at him as he goofed off.

"Yeah. Hopefully we'll find some pretty ladies; I'm getting tired of seeing your faces all day long."

"Aw, you love us!" Harry teased Blaise and helped him stand. "Hopefully we'll find some disgustingly rich and hot muggle American or English chicks!" said Harry happily.

"Exactly my thought," Blaise said and nodded in agreement. He began to brush the sand of his shorts.

"I'm going to owl my letter to Sirius. It takes up to two days for Hedwig to get to London from here. She's fast you know," he said with a wink. Blaise rolled his eyes. Harry always bragged about his owl.

"Whatever. I'll see you at dinner. I'm going to take a walk on the beach."

"See you later then," Harry said and went back to the house where Hedwig would be.

* * *

Harry had a pleasant vacation with his family and friends. Duff was true to his word and sent a flower to Sirius with the words "Get well soon fucker! From the Hudsons and Blaise." 

Horrible message, Harry had said. The other Slytherins only smirked and called it brilliant. He didn't get a reply on his very long letter to Sirius, but he had never expected one in the first place. It was a lot to take in, wasn't it?

"Dad?" Duff looked up. The two of them was so alike in both appearance and manors. Since Harry looked nothing like James anymore Duff could easily go as his biological father.

"What is it?" Duff asked him curiously. He had always been a great listener because he was curious about everything and wanted to find out about things. Those kind of people always made the best listeners.

"Do you have a minute to spare?" he said even if he knew it was unnecessarily to ask. Even if Duff didn't have the time, he would make some.

"Of course I do. I always have time for you, you know that," Duff chided him gently. Harry nodded. Yes he knew that. He sat down and Duff waited for him to speak.

"Look, I wanted to ask you something, I thought now would be a good time. Is Sirius still my godfather or what?" Duff nodded.

"Yes he is still your godfather. I never changed that," he told him seriously.

"How do you feel about that?" Harry asked him and first he couldn't understand why Duff seemed to be fighting laugher.

"What, are you my shrink now or something?" Duff asked him humorously. Harry cracked a smile as well when he fully realized how he had formulated his question.

"Just answer it, will you?" he said and tried to get serious.

Duff sighed and nodded. It was time to get serious. "I'm alright with it. I actually liked Sirius back in school. He was just a bit immature sometimes, I guess," he finished vaguely and Harry nodded. He had realized that, yes.

"He still is," he pointed out.

Duff nodded and scratched his tanned stomach lazily. He only wore green swim trunks. It was a warm day, and they hadn't turned on the air conditioner. They only used it at night when they would sleep. "Well, I don't think it's going to rub off on you," Duff said. He looked at Harry closely. "I can see you're troubled over this whole ordeal. I know it wasn't easy for you to come clean with all these people," he said.

Harry sighed. "I am... a bit. I just don't know what to do with it. I don't want to loose Sirius again."

Duff leaned forward and took his hand in his. "I don't think you will. He'll probably be a bit put out and confused in the beginning, because he doesn't understand how and when this happened. He will probably not like that I'm your father figure and not him but he'll come around once he gets used to it, I am sure of it."

"How do you feel about me being around these people?" He really wanted to know that.

Duff furrowed his eyebrows. "I never meant for you to break your connections with them just because you told them about your actually excising family life. Yet you must remember they are nothing like you. You're pretty wild comparing to them in the sense that you party, have sex and you speak freely and ain't scarred of anything. They're not like that. You if anyone knows that," Duff said Harry agreed reluctantly. He'd like to give them a bit more credit than that, and say that they were cool, but the truth was that they were anything but.

"Their supposed "golden boy" doesn't act like that if you know what I mean? I can see you like them. I have nothing against it. To be honest I think it's good for you to have people around you who stand steady on the ground. It's good for you to meet so called normal people and not only those of us involved with the WCIA, because we aren't normal," Duff joked and Harry laughed. He had come across some very odd fellows at the headquarters though out the years. "

"We're the elite of the wizarding world and we have a total different lifestyle than most people. We're feared, hated, loved, respected, honored, we can get away with a lot of things, do you know what I'm trying to say here? Most people like us... but the dirty business dealers hate us because we're a form of both muggle FBI and CIA. Besides _that_ we're special trained in all kind of war techniques. That could go to your head if you're not careful…" Harry rolled his eyes. He had heard this lecture many times before. Duff always warned him about becoming too cocky. He knew the speech by heart but Duff continued despite the glare he gave his father.

"I'm not saying you're thinking that, nor the other boys. I'm proud over you, but you're a teenager and you need normal people in your life."

"I understand dad."

"The same goes for Darek and Blaise. I mean, I know that you three find the students in school immature and boring but sometimes you like them. The good thing about 'coming out' is that now you can be with Blaise and Draco when the school opens. You don't have to hide it anymore."

"You called him Draco," Harry pointed out in surprise. Duff never did that.

"I call him that when I'm talking about him in the sense of school matters," he said casually.

Harry rolled his eyes. Duff suddenly changed the subject and for that he was glad. He didn't want to hear another speech.

"Anyway. I've spoken to Jack. He'll send us some cigarettes to this place; he thought it would be nice for us to have something to do."

"Excellent! Great idea!" Harry said enthusiastic and jumped up on his feet, on his way to check the windows for any owls. Harry doubted it would arrive today, perhaps tomorrow morning if they were lucky.

"I know," Duff said cheekily.

Harry gave him a glare and he said darkly: "Sometimes I wonder why everybody likes you. You're just a big self loving idiot!"

"You really didn't mean that!" Duff cried with pretended outrage.

"Not really, no," Harry confessed and Duff grinned in triumph. "But there are no other explanation. You're always right!"

"That I am," Duff fully agreed, looking very smug.

"See what I mean? You admit it VERY willingly!"

"I'm not shy and I'm a Slytherin. Slytherins praise themselves." Harry laughed and thought of DRACO MALFOY. To be honest Darek played his roll very good thus he suspected Darek enjoyed having his head up his ass.

"Are you going out with us tonight? Since we're leaving tomorrow I'd like to have a _grande finale_."

"Of course I'll come!" Harry said quickly. He didn't want to be left at the house! HE wanted just like Duff to make the outmost of their last night.

"Great," Duff said and rubbed his hands together, making Harry suspect he had planned something.

"So what then, are you going with us back to school or…?" he asked. They had never really sat down and talked about this during their holiday. They had tried to keep away from business.

"I'll drop you of at school before I'll leave for the WCIA."

"Alright." Harry understood Duff had work to do, and didn't complain about it even if he would have liked it if Duff had come with them. At least he had Blaise and Darek.

* * *

Harry watched how Darek danced with a girl. It was a quite daring dance and he smirked. He himself sat and drank tequila at the bar. Once he had finished, and he finished pretty quickly, he decided to have a sex on the beach. 

"Nice drink. Wanna live up to its name?" Harry raised his eyebrows watched how a brunette slid down in the chair next to him. Apparently she didn't care about Duff and Blaise which were seated next to him. The brunette was very hot so he didn't mind, even if she seemed pushy.

"Maybe. Why me?" he said slowly, hiding his interest.

"You're the hottest guy in here! I bet you're real good," she said and leaned in to him. He drew back slightly from the smell of alcohol coming from her. He could see his dad smirking at him over her shoulder.

"I think I'm capable of satisfying a woman's need," he said simply.

"Wanna help me satisfy mine?" she slurred.

"What's your name?"

"Carla Doom/Hilton. I'm American. How's it gonna be?" Harry thought it sounded like "take it or leave it" and his little friend certainly knew what he would chose today.

"Have you ever seen the beach in sunset?" he said meaningfully. She gave a little whoop of joy. He stood up when she pulled his arm, eager to leave. He wondered if she was going to regret this night in the morning, but that wasn't his problem. He stood up and staggered slightly when the alcohol made itself known, but straightened up soon thereafter.

"See you tonight," he said to his family.

"AHEMrubberAHEM!" Duff coughed and Harry rolled his eyes and flicked him off as Blaise sniggered at them.

* * *

"I'll leave you here then," said Duff when they stood near the gates of Hogwarts. 

"Bye dad!" Harry said and hugged him quickly.

"Good bye dad," Darek said and copied Harry's movement.

"Bye Duff. Tell dad I said Hi?"

"Of course. I'll see you in three weeks." With that said Duff left them.

"Operation "Rock the school" is about to begin," Harry once they were alone. They began to walk towards Hogwarts.

"Oh man. They don't know what's gonna hit them!" Darek said.

* * *

All three entered the school, looking smug. They were a little bit late for the feast. Harry quickly scanned the teacher table for the new DADA teacher when they entered the hall. 

It was a brand new old one. Remus Lupin. He saw a black dog peaking out from underneath the tablecloth; Sirius.

"Mr. Potter, Malfoy and Zabini. You made it," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"Yes. Sorry we were late. Different time zones you know?" he lied. Darek and Blaise nodded beside him. They had known perfectly well what time difference there was, but they had all had hangover and decided to sleep in.

"That's Ok. You haven't missed anything except the sorting. I'm sure your friends will fill you in on that later. Now, take a seat. ATTENTION SCHOOL!" Dumbledore said.

Harry sat down beside Ron who looked at him. _At least he didn't turn away_, he thought. He brought his attention back to Dumbledore.

"As you can see our former professor Lupin is now back again for a new and fresh year to teach you DADA." Everyone clapped. They were happy he was back; everyone had thought he was a good teacher.

"Whoooa! Way to go professor!" Harry shouted, causing many too look at him since he didn't usually turn the attention on to himself on purpose.

"Oi! Teach us for god's sake Lupin! We don't want another Umbridge!" Draco shouted from the other side of the hall. That, if anything, made people gawk.

"You were always the best Remmy!" Blaise shouted next, causing an uproar of voices while Darek and Blaise grinned to each other over the Slytherin table. Harry wished he was right over there with them.

"SILENCE! Its professor Lupin from now on," Albus said good-naturedly. The man would never change.

"Of course but he'll always be little Remmy in my head," Blaise said and looked innocently up at the teachers table.

"Mr. Zabini. Kindly keep that information to yourself," Snape snapped and looked ill at the very thought of anyone calling Lupin 'Remmy'.

"Alright Mr. I've-been-beaten-up-by-Potter!" Blaise answered and Snape looked like he had eaten a lemon.

"Right..." Dumbledore began his usual speech about the fucking Forbidden Forest and like usual no one really paid any attention to it.

* * *

The feast was finished and most people had already left the Great Hall. Harry was one of the last ones out, but was stopped in the doorway by no other than Filch himself. 

"Potter. You are to be in the head boy's room tonight at seven," the man mumbled and looked at him suspiciously, as if he had had the chance to do something wrong yet.

"Why?" he asked Filch. He was very surprised to hear that. He wasn't the new head boy as far as he knew.

"You'll meet someone," Filch told him cryptically. Harry looked for an explanation but he didn't get one. So he went to the Gryffindor tower instead when the man simply had turned around and walked away, mumbling about his cat.

"Harry?" He turned and saw Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville sitting at a table in the common room.

"Hi guys. What's up?" he asked and went over to them. Curious as to why they were all sitting together. Usually Ginny was with her friends and Neville… well he wasn't sure what Neville used to do but he didn't hang around them very often.

"We've been waiting for you," Hermione told him.

"That's sweet of you," he said with sarcasm. He wouldn't change who he was because of them. Ron and Hermione exchanged looks while Neville looked pretty shocked. Perhaps he hadn't heard the whole story yet.

"So... er, how was your summer?" Ron asked uncertainly. Harry decided to be honest but blunt.

"Good. The girls practically threw themselves at me, I screwed a lot. You would have liked it there. The girls are hot, the beach is nice, and I love having sex at the beach despite the sticky sand. Do you know what the best part is? They are all one night stands, and the girls are all for it and accept it for what it is. I'm not saying everyone should go around acting like sluts, but once in a while that behavior is okay," he finished with a smug smile. The others gaped at him and he quirked an eyebrow as if to say 'what'.

"Harry! You're talking like an American!" Ginny said deeply shocked. He thought it odd that she decided to mention that and not his actual language but then again why not? He did speak with American accent, he had through out all his life but he had faked a British one. God knows how many times he had cringed at his own voice.

"So? I was raised in the US. It's perfectly normal, isn't it?" he asked her defiantly and crossed his arms as if to prove his point.

"I thought you'd act like always," she murmured in a low voice and looked at the floor. Harry snorted. She had thought nothing of the kind; she had only been spontaneous and stupid.

"What's going on?" Neville asked, looking from one to another. Poor thing didn't understand a thing.

"Obliviate," Harry whispered. Neville looked dazed for a couple of seconds and Harry took advantage if that. "Neville! You were going to ask Dean about his summer remember?" he told the boy.

"Huh? Oh yeah. I forgot. I'll see you later Harry!" Neville stumbled over to Dean Thomas and bothered him instead.

"Why did you do that?" Hermione hissed. She looked very upset he would do such a thing. He shrugged and sat down in the corner of a sofa.

"I need some practice," he in an easy voice. He didn't care about the others around him. He could do whatever he wanted, he wouldn't get in trouble. He liked performing magic and would do so when it suited him, if they couldn't deal with that they might as well stop hanging around him right now. The other Gryffindors glared at him.

"Hey Gin, are you a virgin?" he asked only because he wanted to catch her off guard and perhaps she would answer truthfully. It would take the spotlight off of him.

"No," she said before clapping a hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened as she looked directly at her brother. Apparently her little secret was out in the open. Hermione looked like she disapproved but she didn't say anything.

"WHAT? YOU AREN'T?" Ron yelled. The people in the room focused on Ron. Harry smiled evilly and retreated to a corner in the room. He loved causing havoc.

He watched how Ginny confessed that Dean, their dorm mate had taken it. Ron roared like a wild animal and ran headfirst at Dean who didn't waste any time sitting around, watching what would happen. Harry watched amusingly as how Ron chased Dean all over the common room while people tried to either catch Ron, or stop Dean so they could watch a fight.

The wild goose chase lasted for a several hours, even if it went pretty slow at the end. He didn't know how it ended; he had to leave for the secret meeting.

* * *

He was a bit tardy once he entered the room. At first it looked like it was empty. It was hard to see, the only light source was a dying fire. Shadows were playing in the room when trees swayed outside the big windows. He walked around cautiously until he came across a bed and a man. It was Sirius. He sat with his head down and he had a paper in his hand. It looked very torn as if it had been with him for a very long time. 

"Sirius?" he asked. Sirius turned his head and Harry could see tears in his eyes. He began to worry for Sirius mental health. He looked depressed.

"Hi Harry... or should I say Ryan?" he said shyly. Harry was concerned over Sirius behavior. The man hadn't acted like this ever before when they had met, a bit crazy yes, but not like this.

"You ´kay?" he asked.

"Of course. Come sit down Ryan." Harry nodded and sat down on the bed.

"I got your letter," Sirius said and waved with the piece of paper in his hand. Harry stared at it with surprise. He hardly recognized the parchment.

"I've keep it on me ever since," Sirius told him. Harry wasn't sure of what to think about that. Sirius leaned forward and took his hands in a hard grip. Harry looked into his eyes and the man looked desperate. "I'd never abandon you Ryan! I can't believe you even dared think about that! Moony told me about you. He said he believe you could be great. You're just a motherfucker to people you don't like or don't know. He said it was just a matter of attitude. I'm so proud of you, with you hitting Snape and all! I've wanted to do that for a very long time but someone has always stopped me before I've managed."

"I know," Harry said with a smile. He gently freed his hands and inched away from Sirius. There was an awkward silence between them when no one knew what to say next.

"So... How do you feel about me being a Hudson?"

"Hey! No hard feelings! I love you and you like me and that's what matters. I'd compete against Duff for your sake if needed. You'll be mine, you'll see!" Sirius got that crazy look again and Harry was determined to ask Duff if there had been any complications while the man had been retrieved.

"We'll see Siri..." he said. The two of them didn't say much more to each other, and Harry soon excused himself.

* * *

"Where were you? I had to restrain Ron myself!" Hermione shouted angrily when he entered the common room. 

"I was just... Erm... Saying Hi to Snuffles."

"Lupin's dog?" Dean asked.

Harry froze before he realized that Sirius must have been introduced in his dog form during the feast. Snuffles had been there after all. _Clever move Dumbledore_, he thought. "Er... Yeah," he answered.

"Oh. Did he tell you something interesting?" Dean teased him.

"Yeah actually, he did." He said with a cheeky grin and Dean laughed.

"You know he's a DOG right?"

"Right," Harry murmured. Suddenly he wasn't amused anymore. Things were complicated between Sirius and him and he didn't want to make any dog jokes.

"Attention everyone!" Seamus Finnegan shouted. Harry watched him and wondered what was happening. Everyone seemed to be much noisier tonight for some reason.

"We've gotten a letter right here and it's addressed to "Hudson". Do we have anyone named "Hudson" in here?" Seamus asked, sounding like he was commenting an auction. It was quiet for a while until Harry decided to step forward.

"It's mine," Harry said and reached for it. He gave himself away but perhaps the letter was important, only important people called him Hudson.

"YOURS?" Seamus said skeptically.

"Yes. Give it here!" he said and tried to grab it but Seamus hid it behind his back.

"No"

"No? What do you mean 'no'? Give it the fuck here!" he spat. He was too tired for playing games. Jet lag was already affecting him, and this stupid argument didn't make it any better.

"We all know your last name is Potter, Harry. It's not yours!"

Harry became irritated for real. He swore he would strangle the Irishman if he didn't get it. His eyes went icky and he stared him down until Seamus had to look away.

"Give me the fucking letter Finnegan! It has a fucking spell on it; the letter will only open if it's the addressed person opening it. Even an idiot such as yourself should recognize it. Give me the letter. If I can't open it I'll give it back," he said coldly. Seamus gave him the letter on autopilot. He was in shock.

Harry ripped it open. "See?" he said with a smug look before he read it. His expression turned to serious in a flash.

_//Ry, Arrow was injured on our mission. A curse hit him. He is quite alright; there's no need to worry. Do some research on an illegal dark curse called "Prio Mio". I'm in a place that has no connections with the WCIA and I can't leave Arrow so I need your help on this. Write me as soon as possible about your findings. Inform Darek. Burn this when you've read it. //_

He pulled out his wand in one smooth fluid movement and ignored Seamus flinch. He set the note on fire and watched it burn. "Avido," he said and pointed at the ashes formed at his feet.

He used a dark spell which destroyed all evidence of something had ever excised. It came to handy sometimes. All the ashes disappeared without a trace, as well as a piece of the carpet but he tactfully ignored that slight error.

He walked over to the fireplace and took out a small bag of flame powder from his robe pocket. He always kept on there in case of an emergency. He threw it in the fireplace and waited until it turned green. "Hogwarts, Slytherins common room, DAREK!" he shouted. Blaise came, but he stopped in the flames and didn't come through.

"Blaise, get Darek," Harry ordered impatiently. Blaise realized something serious was going on, and left without a word. Darek arrived shortly after Blaise disappeared.

"What's going on?" he asked quickly.

"Come on through," Harry told him. He wanted to speak to his brother in person, and without a fire separating them. You never knew what or who might be watching.

"Is it serious?" Darek asked immediately as he stepped into the common room.

"Have Blaise mentioned anything?" he said instead of answering Darek´s question.

"No," Darek said and shook his head. He looked worried. He knew his bother wouldn't call him here unless it was serious.

Harry stared into the fire, thinking. "Maybe he doesn't know yet..." he said dreamily.

"About what?" Darek asked, and laid a hand on his shoulder. He forced Harry to look at him. Darek always did that when he wanted straight answers. Harry figured there was no way to put this nicely, so he decided to be blunt just like his father had been in the letter.

"Arrow was hit by a dark curse," he said, well aware of everyone listening to what he said. Darek swore like a sailor and began to pace back and forth. Darek drew a hand through his now black hair. Harry watched him for a while until he said, "I feel exactly what you do, frustration. We should have been there, hell, we should be there now! Apparently Arrow is okay through, Duff said so." Derek looked at him funny.

"Duff?" he asked skeptically. Harry nodded and explained.

"He was the one that told me about it in the first place, he sent me a letter. He is okay but have to stay with Arrow, I think they're stuck or something. Therefore we have some work to do. I think we need to work pretty fast, considering the nature of Arrow's injury," he said worriedly and sighed heavily. He didn't know where to begin but he was glad he could at least do _something. _

"What exactly is it that we have to do?" Darek asked him seriously. He was all business now, ready to do whatever was necessarily to get Arrow well again.

"Find out what Prio Mio is," he whispered so nobody else but Darek heard him. Darek went closer to Harry, so their lips almost touched as he spoke.

"I'll ask Lucius."

Harry nodded. Lucius was always a good source when it came to the Dark Arts. Lucius never knew what Darek did with the information he gave him, if he did he probably wouldn't be so eager to teach his "son" about the matter. Harry went to the window and whistled for their family hawk to come. They used hawks because they were generally faster than owls. It only took a little while before the grand hawk came sailing in through the window. He was dark brown and magnificent. The hawk spread its wings and flapped a couple of times before it settled down on Harry's shoulder.

"Come over here Deep Black," Darek said. The bird moved obediently. It wasn't easy to train a hawk since they were proud creatures with a strong will, but when treated right they became very loyal to the one they served. Darek went over to a table and snatched a quill and parchment from a first year. He scrawled down a quick and straight to the point message to Lucius. Harry went over and read it quickly, and with a nod to his brother he tired it to Deep Black. The hawk had gotten his name from his black, sharp eyes.

"Go to Lucius," Harry whispered to their hawk. Together the room watched how Deep Black expertly took flight out of the window. Darek relaxed slightly. There wasn't much else they could do at the moment. Darek strode over to a sofa and mentioned for three second years to move with a dismissive hand movement. The three of them scrambled away and Darek sat down with a satisfied smirk. Harry shook his head; Darek always did his outmost to be viewed as an asshole. Instead of taking care of the situation he took advantage of it and sat down beside his brother.

"Do you have any idea where Black Blaze is?" Darek asked him.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. He's in my dorm," Harry said distraughtly as he tried to come up with what to tell Blaise about all this. If Blaise heard his father was injured he was likely to go there, and Harry didn't think that was what Duff had had in mind when he wrote to them.

"Really?" said Darek. He hadn't expected that, considering the school rules and all.

"Yes I promise you, he is up there," Harry said and rolled his eyes. He hated it when people didn't believe him. "Wait here." Harry said went up to his dorm.

He looked around the room when he entered, but didn't spot what he was looking for. The room seemed as peaceful and quiet as ever. "BLACK BLAZE! Get here!" he yelled. A big black dog with stunning green eyes came out from underneath a bed. The enormous dog greeted Harry happily, and Harry petted him for a while until he told the dog to follow him as he went downstairs again. The dog was overwhelmed to see Darek. The two of them hadn't met in a while, but that didn't matter to the dog. Dogs were always happy, they always greeted you enthusiastically; it didn't matter if you had left the room for five minutes or five weeks.

"YO! Down boy!" Darek said amusedly as he got jumped on by an over excited dog. Harry laughed at their reunion. Duff had allowed him to take Black Blaze with him to school this year, he figured since so much else had changed no one would pop a vessel over a dog. Harry had hidden his dog for a while with strong illusion charms and what not but he figured today would be the day he allowed everyone to see his doggy companion.

"Do you have Wolf with you?" Harry asked Darek as he sat down in the sofa once again. He grunted as Black Blaze jumped up in his knee. "You need to go on a diet!" Harry growled to his dog which only cocked his head to the side and stared at him intently. "Useless," Harry muttered but patted BB kindly.

"Blaise stole him," Darek said dryly as he answered Harry's earlier question. Darek lifted BB's long hairy tail away from the seat next to Harry so he could sit down. Harry smirked. Wolf was a husky dog and almost as big as his Black Blaze.

"Where is Moonbeam in that case? Told tell me Blaise keep both of the dogs!" Harry said. The three of them had always been dog persons, and they didn't really like cats. Harry wondered if that perhaps built on bad experiences with them such as Mrs. Figg's house, Filch's car and Hermione's. _Its official,_ he thought. _Cats are creepy! _

"Moonbeam is in Hewit City at the manor, I suppose Albert takes care of him," said Darek with a shrug. Moonbeam was another husky, which fur was very pale-white, like the moon, hence the name.

Darek looked around to make sure no one was near them when he suddenly whispered:  
"There's a vampire meeting tomorrow. I thought you'd like to know." Harry thought this was very interesting, and apparently so did his dog because his ears were moving around as they spoke, clearly listening in on what they said.

"Where?" he whispered back.

"In the Forbidden forest. I can show you were exactly." Their eyes met and they both nodded.

"I'll be there," Harry conformed.

"I'll see what I can find out about the curse." Harry nodded. He trusted Darek to tell him exactly what Lucius had written in response. Darek got up to leave and Harry followed him over to the fireplace. Before Darek could go through Harry stopped him with a grip of his arm.

"Don't tell Blaise about this unless it's necessary," he warned him and Darek nodded in understanding. They would keep this from Blaise because they cared about him and wanted to protect him. "While we're waiting for Lucius I'll have a look in the library," he continued.

"Better you than me!" Darek joked and disappeared in the green flames.

"Black Blaze, come here," Harry ordered his dog and together they left the tower. He had better get to work as quickly as possible. He walked through the halls towards the library and Black Blaze was close behind him.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

**

* * *

**

**SLYTHERIN SORT OF STYLE**

_**-CHAPTER SIX-**_

**BETA: ObuletShadowStalker**

**INFO:** www. livejournal. com /users/ draycious

**OTHER: ...**

**WARNINGS:** Language, not much but still...

**LINK:** http// www. fanfiction. net /s/2104361/1/

* * *

Halfway to the library Harry remembered one very important thing; he needed permission to enter the Restricted Section. This year the teachers had set new wards around the area, so it was nearly impossible to sneak in at night like he had done before. The wards would be there day and night and it would inform the teachers immediately if anyone so much as dared to nudge the wards. He could probably find a way to break through the wards if given time, but time was something he didn't have at the moment. The quickest and easiest way would be to get a permission card, which functioned in the way of, as long as you had it in your pocket while in the restricted area, the wards would allow you to pass. 

He knew exactly who to turn to; Snape. Normally Snape wouldn't be his first option for various and quite obvious reasons, but this year he had an advantage over the man; Duff was his father. Snape would do anything to help Duff… so if he played his cards right he would get the permission card before he could blink.

Harry looked around him. The castle was empty since it was way past curfew, and also the first night in the castle of the new school year.

_The million-dollar question **is**; where is the damn bat? _He thought. He decided to go to the dungeons, before he would call in some expert help.

Once in the dungeons he kneeled down so he was at the same level as his dog. "Black Blaze, find Snape," he told his dog. Many hours of training had been spent on their dogs, and Black Blaze's specialty was tracking. Black Blaze set to work immediately even if Harry didn't have Snape's scent. Black Blaze wasn't just any dog, he was a magical dog meaning he had powers; hence he could track down magic. A wizard always left a very faint trail of magic behind them wherever they went.

They walked around in various tunnels in the dungeons and Harry lost track of where they went. He blindly put his trust in his dog. He normally wouldn't do that on a mission or anything, but since this was Hogwarts, he considered the castle fairly safe, and it was the first day of the term. He doubted Voldemort or anyone would strike on the first day back. Black Blaze followed the trail until they reached a plain gray stonewall. There was nothing unusual about it, it looked like all the other walls in the dungeons. There were no paintings on the wall, in fact, Harry hadn't seen any paintings in the dungeons for quite awhile now.

"So this is his hide out," Harry murmured. Most people would probably have given up, thinking it was a dead end but Harry wasn't stupid. This was so typically Snape, using illusions to hide from the outside world. He knew Snape was behind that wall, the question was how to get behind it. He stood there thinking for a while, Black Blaze sitting on the floor waiting patiently. Harry figured he should use a strong spell to open the door. Snape wasn't fuzzy with spells so he probably used something with a lot of power behind it. He decided to take a chance and shot a orange spell towards the wall which, amazingly, sprung open at once. He entered together with his dog. Once inside, the door slid closed behind them, as if they were now stuck in the room.

_I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I know how to think Snapeish, _he mused.

Said man came out from behind a door and stalked over to them. The man looked livid. "What the hell are you doing in my living room Potter?" he snarled. Harry looked around him.

"Believe me. I have no desire to be in your...living room?" He answered with distain. The room was all black, void of anything that might be considered cheerful. The room was gloom and might be considered scary by others, but Harry found it boring. Snape scowled at him.

"I came here for a reason. I need a signed permission card to the Restricted Section," he said.

The man crossed his arms and looked down at him, not that the differences between their height were noticeable these days. "What for?" Snape asked him sharply and suspiciously.

Harry saw his chance and took it. "Duff needs something in the Restricted Section. He sent me to get it, so here I am. However, there isn't much time. I need you to sign it right away."

Snape seemed to be considering it, and Harry knew Snape hesitated because didn't know whether he spoke the truth or not. He wasn't easy to read when he had his mental shields in place. Snape probably didn't think he could afford saying no to Duff, but he didn't want to say yes to a Potter either. "Why should I believe you Potter?" Snape asked reluctantly. Harry had the perfect answer to the question since he had been expecting it.

"Because I am no Potter and this is an direct _order_ from Duff. Besides, if you don't sign it you're going to regret it." Black Blaze growled in threat when he heard his master say those words. Snape glanced at the dog warily. The man didn't have a good record with dogs, and particularly not those with sharp teeth. Harry could actually see Snape shivering before the man twirled around and went over to the only table in the living room. Snape snatched a quill and stalked over to a drawer and pulled out a card.

"Alright, I'll sign this Potter, but only because I don't want to argue with you this late at night," Snape said acidly as he signed the poor card violently. This was the worst lie he had ever heard from Snape, and he couldn't help but point it out.

"Snape... it's ten o'clock," he informed him subtly. Snape glared but said nothing. He stalked over to him and passed the card as well as a written pass to Harry.

"Here. Now get out!" Snape snarled and pointed at the now open stone wall . "And take your damn mutt with you!" He added as Black Blaze snapped his teeth at Snape's person when he passed the man by.

"My pleasure. I'll be seeing you," he said icily and followed his dog out of the depressing hellhole.

Once outside the dungeons he stopped to read what Snape had written on the note.

* * *

I, Professor Snape, hereby grant Mr Harry Potter/Hudson a free entrance to the Restricted Section in the library and he may choose to read whatever book he like.

I also let him pass the curfew for tonight,

Professor S Snape.

* * *

Harry smiled smugly. He seemed to have made quite an impression on Snape, or perhaps it was just because he brought up Duff's name. _Probably the later_, he thought wryly.

When he arrived at the Restricted Section he brought out his wand and said, "Searchia Prio Mio." The spell made every book that mentioned that particular spell land on the nearest table. The research spell wasn't recommended to use if it was a common spell or common knowledge. Since he knew Prio Mio wasn't exactly 'common' he felt safe to use it without fearing he'd be buried underneath a mountain of books. He hadn't been expecting it, but one single book landed on the table. It opened by itself and turned the yellow pages to the one which mentioned the curse. Harry sat down eagerly and began to read.

* * *

_Prio Mio is a curse invented to kill an enemy slowly. The target gets weaker and weaker until it can't move. The victim of the spell suffers from high fever. When the victim is weak enough to be unable to resist any attacks on the immune system, a poison created within the own body will be set loose into the system. The process is most painful and will take time. It has been reported a victim can last up to three days, but it depends on how strong the person is. The cure is not simple nor easy to make; the only thing to do is to make a potion called "Prio mio ex".  
_

* * *

Harry cursed the lack of facts, such as a complete explanation of which kind of poison the curse created inside the body, or how it even happened in the first place. _Magic truly is dangerous_, he thought as he slammed the book shut. He quickly searched for a potions book so he could get the recipe for "prio mio ex". He knew just the man to make it, and the man could make it fast so he could send it to Duff as quickly as possible. 

Once he found what he was looking for he ran all the way to the dungeons. This time he didn't take his time outside the stone wall, he simply let the spells rush out of him so he could enter without being caught up in some trap of Snape's.

* * *

"What the fuck?" he heard Severus yell when the wall opened for him and he burst through. Snape was seated on a black sofa in the same living room as earlier. The man looked furious at his presence. 

"Quiet Snape!" he snapped. He strode forward and thrust a list with rare ingredients he couldn't get from the students' ingredient stores. He would be needing them for the potion. He had changed his mind, he wouldn't be needing Snape to brew the potion; he could do it himself. He didn't trust the man to keep his mouth shut about this. Snape had always been too curious for his own good, snooping around, spying on people to find out their secrets… No, he was better of brewing this potion himself. People might say he was no better than Neville, but that had been a part of the whole scam.

"What the hell is this?" Snape said as he eyed through the parchment.

"A list of a couple of things Duff needs. Hurry!" he said. Snape stood reluctantly and with a nasty look he went to another room while Harry waited in an armchair he had invited himself to sit in. When Snape returned he was looking a little confused.

"This doesn't make anything," he stated and crossed his arms.

"No it doesn't, but if you add a few other things it will," he answered.

"What's it going to be?" Snape asked. Harry could see his interest was peaked.

"That's a secret...Well for now anyway," he said avoidably. He stood up and snatched the bag with the ingredients from Snape's hand and ran off. He then broke into the students' stores and stole quite a lot of things he would need. For the next hour he concentrated as he brewed the antidote. After that he ran all the way to the Owlery. Once there he discovered that Deep Black had already returned from Lucius. He didn't have any letter tied to him so he supposed their hawk had already seen Draco.

"Come here boy, I need you to take this to Duff quickly, alright?" he said as he tried the potion to the birds leg. Deep Black screeched and flew off. Harry sighed in relief and felt all his anxiety washed off of him. At least that part was over, but now came the worst part yet; waiting.

* * *

Harry walked back to the Gryffindor tower slowly. Deep down he knew Arrow would be all right. He hadn't messed up the potion, he had been very thorough with it and he knew it was the correct antidote. Yet he couldn't help but worry a little. He knew Arrow was in a lot of pain, hell, he had read about the affects of the curse in the book! Now he was worried what the after affects would be, would Arrow heal inside out with the potion? Or would it only stop the poison? Would he still be weak? He shook his head to clear it and blinked as he realised he had already arrived at the tower. 

Harry didn't feel like going to bed so he opened the portrait and whistled lowly. Not long after that, Black Blaze came sneaking down the stairs and out to him. Harry loved the fact that dogs had great hearing. He wouldn't have wanted to actually go inside, in fear that he might be attracting some unwanted attention. Despite how tired he felt he decided to take Black Blaze for a walk around the lake. His only regret of bringing Black Blaze with him this year was that he didn't have a chance to be outside Hogwarts much. Draco, Blaise or him would have to take Black Blaze down the tunnels that lead to Hogsmeade and let him run around in the town instead.

The problem wasn't that Black Blaze couldn't be seen by anyone at Hogwarts, _that_ they didn't care about, the problem was they didn't want anyone to come near Black Blaze. He had a certain thing for hurting people that came near him when neither of his family was around, an neither of them would ever, ever, think about putting Black Blaze on a leash. He obeyed them without any doubts, but when he was allowed to be outside to run free he tended to be extremely far ahead of them, and when that happened, they couldn't always communicate with him. It would be too much trouble to go through some kid's parent suing them for allowing their dog to attack them, so they had to do it this way instead.

* * *

"Ryan!" Harry turned to the trees right outside the forbidden forest. He squinted in the darkness to see the figure which was coming closer. 

"Hello Darek. I didn't expect to see you here," he said calmly.

"You should have know I'd be here to sort out my mind." Harry nodded. Despite the image Draco had set for himself he loved the Forbidden Forest. No one would think to look for him there, he had really been quite clever when he made sure everyone "knew" he was afraid of it.

"I saw that Deep Black has returned. What did Lucius tell you?" Harry asked and began to walk again when his brother had caught up with him. Black Blaze had long since been swallowed by the shadows, but Harry knew he was safe somewhere on the grounds.

"Actually... he didn't know," Darek said slowly and Harry looked at him surprised. Darek saw his expression and nodded.

"I know. That was my impression too. Lucius _always_ knows. I don't understand why he said doesn't, now..."

Harry furrowed his brow. "Do you think he's lying?" he asked.

Draco shrugged. He put his hands in his robe pockets and said, "Maybe. But, why would he? I see no reason for him to lie about this. He has nothing to gain from it." Harry too found it odd, because if there was something he had learned early in life it was, Lucius Malfoy didn't do anything unless it benefited himself.

"Maybe he sees something we don't," he suggested to his brother who didn't seem to believe in it.

"Perhaps," he said skeptically. "On another note, what did you find?" Darek looked at him hopefully, since his research had led them to an dead end.

"I found a book in the Restricted Section."

Darek stopped walking. "Really? How did you get access?" Darek went quiet for a second before he said "Did you sneak in?" in an suspicious voice. Harry smirked when he heard that, Darek knew him too well.

"One would think so, but I actually didn't this time. Snape gave me permission." Darek snorted.

"Why on earth did he do that? He hates you above everything!" Darek protested. Harry laughed lightly.

"I think our greasy haired Slytherin has Duff as an idol. I just told him that I was doing some work for Duff, which was the truth… and perhaps Black Blaze had something to do with it as well."

"I see," Darek said dryly. He was fully aware of Black Blaze's role in it all. "What did you find out?" Harry squirmed uneasily. He knew his brother wouldn't like hearing this, and he hoped he would be allowed to finish before Darek exploded.

"The spell kills its victim slowly. Thankfully there is an antidote to it. I gathered the ingredients, brewed the potion and sent it with Deep Black to Duff," he said in a hurry. Darek stared at him and he decided now would be a good time to find his dog.

* * *

Harry and Darek sat down on the ground in silence. Once again Harry let Black Blaze run around the grounds however he pleased. He doubted it very much that a student would be outside looking for trouble at this hour so early in the term. 

"Do you believe Arrow is going be alright at once or do you reckon it's going to take some time?" Darek asked him softly. This proved once again how alike they were, Harry had thought the exact same thing earlier. Harry played with a leaf.

"I don't know. The book I read didn't reveal anything about the healing process. I just hope for the best you know," he said.

"Are we going to tell Blaise?" Darek asked and played with a little stick in his hand. Harry watched him do so.

"We have to, eventually," he said. A big rustle in the bushes made both boys jump up on their feet with their wands at ready. Harry could feel his heartbeat speeding up and he readied himself for a fight if necessarily. A big black shadow came out from the bushes followed by a smaller one.

"What do you have to tell me... eventually?" the shadow said.

"Blaise? Are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack?" Harry growled.

"Sorry, Ry. I was just taking Wolf for a walk." Sure enough, the smaller shadow turned out to be Wolf. The dog barked once and ran over to Darek and licked his face in welcome.

"That's enough boy, I don't want the ladies to think I never brush my teeth with that stinky smell you give me," Darek murmured and Harry rolled his eyes at him. Blaise sat down right beside him. Harry could see he was serious when he spoke.

"Care to tell me what's going on? It's not like you two to leave me left out." It wasn't really a request, it was a demand and they all knew it. Blaise didn't want to play anymore, and they had to speak the truth. Harry and Darek looked at each other. Through various expressions they had a silent talk and in the end Darek left it up to Harry to decide.

"Fine!" Harry snarled to him and made Darek smirk. Darek had won, for now. Blaise sighed at them and Harry took pity on him.

"Okay listen, what I am about to tell you might upset you, a little," Darek snorted loudly at that and Harry glared at him. "_But _before you go all livid, I can tell you that everything has already been taken care of, and everyone is just fine." Blaise nodded gravely. He had understood that someone was seriously injured.

"I got a letter from dad tonight. The reason why I didn't tell you about it was because Duff begged me not to upset you." It was sort of true, wasn't it? "He wrote me because he needed my help. You see, Arrow, was hit by a dark curse called Prio Mio." Blaise looked at him stonily. Harry waited patiently for him to say something.

"What the fuck is that?" Blaise burst out.

"That's what I thought when I first heard. I went to the library to check it out while Darek wrote to Lucius..."

"And?" Blaise cut him of impatiently.

"_And_ I found the curse in a book. It's one of those pain curses, basically it will weaken the victim and cause pain until the person dies from it," he said, watching how Blaise paled considerably. _As long as he doesn't faint it's fine by me, _Harry thought.

"Now don't be alarmed. I said it's been taken care of, didn't I? I have already found the antidote and made it, it was a potion. Thank God Snape had all the right ingredients. Now we have another problem in out hands, we have to figure out what Lucius is up to because he said he didn't know about the curse and we don't believe him."

"Exactly," was all Darek said. He was once again playing with the stick.

"What happened really, why was my father cursed to begin with?" Blaise asked after a while of silence. Harry shrugged. He was the one with the most information so Darek let him take care of all the questions Blaise had.

"I don't know. The letter was very short and straight to the point. Duff didn't have time for bullshit. I expect to get a letter during breakfast tomorrow, explaining some things to us."

"I personally think they somehow got in a middle of an attack, you know how they are," Darek said unexpectedly. Harry stared at him. Darek glared at the look he received.

"What?" he growled.

"You actually think?" He said and then howled in laugher, making Blaise join him. Darek frowned offended and turned his back on them.

"At least you think I'm smart, don't you? Oh yes you do..." he said to Wolf and scratched him behind his ears. Wolf whined, shaking his furry head. That only made Harry and Blaise laugh harder, and soon they were lying on the ground rolling back and forth clutching their aching stomachs. Darek settled on glaring at all of them, including both dogs.

* * *

During breakfast all three of them waited anxiously for a word from Duff. It came in the form of three eagles; one to each of them. The three competed in reading it first. 

Three "What?"'s were called out from each of them in the silence in the hall. They looked up at each other with equally confused expressions. Harry reread his letter, thinking he must have missed something.

_

* * *

Ry, _

Arrow is OK. Thanks for the help. I won't tell you what happened, but I need to ask for a favor. I want you to make Snape and Black cooperate on a project I'm starting. I'll give you further details if you meet me tomorrow in Hogsmeade at the Hog's Head tavern.

_For today's mission I want you to make them have at least one civil conversation about the subject of 'DEATH EATERS.' This may seem very odd to you, I know and I will explain it to you. Do not fail on this, it's very important. The big BUT in this is that neither of the two men is to know that it's **you **who made them talk about it. I have no doubts you'll manage to make them talk somehow. _

Love

_DAD_

* * *

_I can't believe this! Black and Snape as in **Sirius Black **and **Severus Snape**? _

No way I'm gonna succeed with this. God knows the Headmaster has tried in many bitter years to make the two of them civil towards each other. He hasn't succeeded and yet he is the King of plots! Harry thought worried over this little mission. He had a vague feeling that Darek and Blaise had gotten something similar to do as well. He sighed and burned the letter out of habit.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked him.

"Family business," he snapped. Hermione looked hurt when snapped at and he felt he should apologise or it would only get worse with Ron questioning his behaviour and whatnot.

"Sorry," she said and avoided his eyes. He sighed and stood up. "I'm sorry too, I didn't mean it." With that said, he left and walked over to the Slytherin table. He knew the Gryffindors were glaring at him for doing so, but he didn't particularly care. The Slytherins didn't exactly have welcoming smiles on their lips either, but again, who the fuck cares?

"Darek, Blaise, a private conversation if you please?" he said politely. The two of them nodded stood up. Darek snatched a sandwich from the Ravenclaw table on his way out of the hall. Harry smirked at the outraged looks they were given.

"Let's go outside. It's harder for anyone to overhear us that way," Blaise said. Darek was quiet. He was still a bit put out over the way the two others had made fun of him yesterday. Harry nudged him in the side.

"Cheer up brother. You're taking after Snape way too much!"

"Now that's a scary thought," Blaise said with a grin.

"Shut up!" Darek said but he couldn't help a small smile to brake through his pissed look.

"Aww, that's sweet. Now when we're done with our childish behaviour, can we please discuss more serious matters? I know you both got a letter, presuming with a similar content to which mine had. Still, out of curiosity; what did Duff assign you?" Harry asked them while they walked over to the lake. They all sat down on the ground together. No one was around them so they could talk freely.

"Actually, I'm supposed to watch Dumbledore," Blaise said.

"You mean spy?" Darek said sharply. Harry listened to Blaise's reply with interest.

"It's a matter of how you see it. In my point of view, as well as yours, it's _watching_, in another persons point of view it might be spying, it's individual, but I am most certainly _not _spying on Dumbledore," Blaise said meaningfully and the others nodded. Harry understood it perfectly. Blaise was indeed spying but they would say watching because it wasn't such a harsh and in some cases; crude word for what he was doing. Spying made it all seem much more serious.

"What about you Darek, are you _watching_ anyone?" Blaise asked.

"No I'm not." Darek was once again playing with the same stick as yesterday. He must have kept it in his pocket for some reason only known to him.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Harry asked him.

"Doing what?" Darek asked surprised.

"Playing with that stick," he said and pointed at it.

"Oh..." Darek said, looking down in his hand. It didn't seem like he was actually aware of what he was doing. "I don't know. I just like it. I never really thought about it. I never noticed I was doing it."

Harry sighed. "Whatever, it just makes me think you're nervous over something. Anyway, carry on," he said and mentioned for Darek to tell them about his assignment.

"Er, as I was saying, I'm not supposed to watch anyone. My mission is to make Snape rush over and hug Ry during breakfast tomorrow."

"Why?" Blaise asked. They all took it in with stride, even if the assignment in itself was strange. They had had by far stranger missions before, but never quite as easy as those they had been given now.

"I don't know. Dad is going to explain it," Darek told them.

"Let me guess, Hog's Head tomorrow?" Harry asked dryly.

"Yeah."

"Me too," Blaise confirmed. Harry sighed again. None of this made any sense to him, and he despised not knowing what he was involved in.

"My mission is a tough one, in a sense," Harry said slowly. "I have no idea how to pull it off. I'm supposed to make Sirius and Snape have _at least _one civil conversation about Death Eaters without them realizing I'm making them have it."

"Woo, tough one indeed," Blaise said compassionated.

"I think you've got the easiest mission Blaise. I mean, Snape is never going to hug Ry willingly!" Darek said and frowned.

"I would like to see _you_ try to sp- _watch_- the Headmaster without him knowing it!" Blaise said with a glare. "He knows about every fucking thing that goes on in the castle. Do you seriously believe he won't notice I'm watching him?" Blaise hissed.

"You've got a point," Darek said and pulled his blond hair back behind his ear.

"That's bloody right I have!" Blaise said darkly. Harry was glad he hadn't received Blaise's mission. The old man could see through invisibility cloaks, so he sure as hell would notice Blaise watching him. Yet he felt that was Blaise's problem, and he didn't want to worry himself with it.

"Ok guys, I don't think we should help each other with this. We'll just have to go our own ways with this matter. I think that's the main idea or Duff would have told us to do the same things and cooperate. He knows we automatically work together but now he clearly want us to work individually."

"Should we report to each other about our proceedings?" Blaise asked. Harry thought for a minute. He had always been a bit of a group leader, and they depended on him to make all the major decisions, which he did.

"No," he finally said, surprising the others. They usually kept each other updated when they were working on something. "I don't think we'll do so this time around. Especially since Darek's matter is connected to me. I can't know how Snape will approach me," he said slowly, looking at the two of them. They nodded their understandings. What he said made sense.

"The Vampire meeting will still proceed just like we planned," he added. Apparently Blaise knew about it already because he nodded. Darek had probably told him.

* * *

The three of them eventually split up to figure out how to pull their missions off. 

Harry decided to walk towards the library, only because no one would talk to him in there in fear they would provoke Madam Pince's wrath. Harry was thinking so hard on his task ahead that he didn't see Snape until he lay sprawled over the man on the floor.  
Harry stared into the angered mans face.

"Oops, sorry. It was an accident," he said sweetly.

"Yes _oops_ indeed Mr Po-Hu- whatever," Snape sighed.

_This is my chance_, Harry thought when he watched the man's resigned look.

Ha, this is going to be a nasty experience for Snape, he thought and unaware of it, he got an evil smirk plastered on his face and that unnerved Snape more than anything. The man had only seen that once before; on Duff's face and that experience hadn't been pleasant.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

**

* * *

**

**SLYTHERIN SORT OF STYLE  
**

_**-CHAPTER SEVEN-**_

**BETA: Skye (MEDUSA)**

**INFO:** www. live journal. com /users/ draycious

* * *

With an idea firmly in place he decided to get a move on and so he did.

"Can I talk to you somewhere, right now? It's _important_," he stressed. He still hadn't gotten off Snape, but the man hadn't mentioned it. He simply lay there, staring back at him with his fathomless black eyes. It wasn't like Snape to simply lay on his back and shut up about it. The man was always nasty, but since Duff had gotten into the picture the man had almost been placid in his ways. Snape sighed.

"Not right now. There is a order meeting in Dumbledore's office within 10 minutes," he said quietly.

Harry nodded, surprised that Snape would tell him that willingly. Whatever had happened to Snape recently, it must have been big. "I'll just wait outside," he said, still on top of Snape.

"I think not Mister Po-Hu...damnit!" he snarled. Now that was more like the man but he pretended that he didn't hear that.

"Why not?" he asked and cocked his head on the side as he looked down on the man.

"Because you'll be listening in on us, and what will be discussed today is non of your business!"

Harry's eyes flashed. Non of his business his ass! It certainly was his business, it had everything to do with him!

"You don't think so?" he snapped. "Well I do, I'm the bloody one who shall end all of this, so it would be essential to know what's going on, don't you think?" he asked in a low voice. Snape sat up quickly and shrugged him off. For a few second the man just stared at him until he spoke.

"That's not up to me to decide. You may come along and talk to Dumbledore," Snape said eventually.

Harry nodded. He wouldn't have it any other way. "Good. Is Sirius there too?"

"I believe the mutt is," Snape said sourly and Harry suppressed a smile. Snape could be quite predictable at times, something which was odd since he most of the time didn't know what to make of Snape.

* * *

The two of them walked in silence to the headmaster's office but Harry noticed that Snape kept looking behind him and into the side corridors they passed. It made him curious about why the man was looking so nervous. Either there was really something there, Snape had proven before to be excellent at detecting even invincible presences, or maybe the man was simply paranoid.

"Is there something wrong professor?" he asked when Snape looked over his shoulder for the twentieth time. It begun to make Harry feel uncomfortable, he had felt slightly amused before but now it just creped him out.

"What?" Snape murmured. His thoughts were clearly somewhere else. Then the question penetrated his mind orderly. "No!" Snape snapped and glared at him with his black eyes. Harry mentally sighed. He didn't know why he even bothered, he would never get anywhere with this man. Eventually they ended up right where they begun anyways.

"There has be something bothering you, or else I wouldn't have noticed that you keep doing that thing."

"I don't know what you're talking about, and what thing?" Snape said and avoided looking at him. Instead he stubbornly looked straight ahead and increased his stride. Harry decided he had have enough of this behaviour stopped Snape with a firm hold on the man's arm.

"What are you doing Potter?" Snape asked him irritated. They were standing in a deserted hall away. There were no other noises accept from the ones they made.

"We will stand here and we won't move until you tell me what bothers you so much that it's making you jumpy and nervous. I know you're a spy but you're safe in this castle. So what is the real reason Snape? What's it gonna be? I can stand here all day," he said in a low dangerous voice that left no room for arguments. Snape looked uncomfortable and didn't meet his eyes.

"Well? I'm waiting!" he said in a demanding voice. Funny how the roles were reversed. It used to be him trying to explain why he was out after curfew.

"I don't like the dog."

"The dog?" Harry asked taken aback.

"It's your dog alright?" Snape burst out and looked away. Clearly this was embarrassing for him to confess. "It is probably going to bite me or something, I just want to stay out of its way!" Harry looked at Snape incredulously.

"You're afraid of my dog?" he asked and burst out in laughter.

"Shut your mouth Potter! It's not _you_ it's going to bite as soon as it gets its chance," Snape hissed. Harry sobered up. He really didn't want to tell the man the truth, but he knew he had to. If he didn't he might have to send his dog home.

"Alright Snape. Let's sort this out. First of all, 'its' name is Black Blaze. Second, he would only attack you if I'm with him and I tell him to do so, unless you're provoking him of course, because if you do I'm not responsible for his actions," he said with a feral grin. Snape paled slightly.

"Right, shall we go then?" Snape said in a hurry.

"After you professor," he said with style. Snape didn't answer. He just strode past him with his usual black robes billowing behind him. Harry shook his head at the man's antics and followed in a quick stride.

* * *

"Sit down Potter," Snape told him and pointed at a chair once they were outside of Dumbledore's door.

"The name is **Hudson**!" he said sourly and sat down, prepared for a long day. Snape went through the door and after a while he could hear loud voices.

"HE'S MY **GODSON**! HE DESERVES TO KNOW!" Sirius voice bellowed from inside.

"HE'S AN ARROGANT KID THAT ONLY WANT'S ATTENTION! HE DOESN'T BELONG HERE!" Snape's angry voice shouted.

"WHY YOU-"

"GENTLEMEN! CALM DOWN!" Dumbledore said loudly and after that Harry couldn't hear what they said. After about ten minutes had passed the door opened and Molly Weasley stuck out her head.

"Harry dear, you're welcome to join us," she said with a slight hint of disapproval. It was well known that she didn't want any 'children' involved with the order.

"Alright." Harry stood up and entered Dumbledore's office. The room was still a circle, but the desk was gone and so were everything else. Instead there were chairs in the room; they stood in a circle and in each chair there was a person seated. He stood up because there was no chair left for him to sit in. He waited for someone to address him.

"Hello Harry, how nice for you to join us," Dumbledore said kindly. Harry heard a loud snort, it came from Snape of course. Sirius glared at Snape and Snape glared back.

"I'm happy to be accepted," he said neutrally in a way that Duff had taught him. He had thought a lot about how he would treat the order once he was back for the new term. Instead of acting like a rebelling teacher he decided to treat them with a polite indifference and coldness.

"Please have a seat," Dumbledore said and a chair appeared between Sirius and Remus. Sirius waved for him to come over. He sat down in the chair and waited. Sirius looked a lot better now apart from the last time they had seen each other.

"We're he today to discuss the situation between the Muggle's and the Death Eaters. I'm very saddened to inform you that a several Muggles in London have seen the Death Eaters and are trying to convince people that Magic does exist," Dumbledore told them. Harry was so bored with it all. He didn't listen to what they said at all. He didn't need the information; the WWCIA already knew those things anyway. He already knew that a few Death Eaters had been trying to convince the Muggles so that the Ministry would have their hands full with sorting it out. It was simply a tactical move so the Death Eaters could operate elsewhere without interference of the Ministry. Harry wondered why no one had realised that. He hardly thought anyone on the light side was stupid. After a while no one said anything. That's when he opened his mouth.

"So, what kind of people become Death Eaters? Is it only dark people or are there other reasons?" he asked.

"I hardly find that relevant," Snape said in a dry voice. Of course he didn't think that, it hit to close to home for him.

"No, go on Harry dear. This is something we've never really talked about. It's important to know so we can keep those who are easy to fall for Voldemort's manipulations on our side," Albus said.

"If it's allowed, I'd like to voice my opinion on the matter," he said and looked at Albus who nodded at him to continue. "I think that it's the type of people who are either drawn to macabre things, or want to prove something but don't realise what they're getting themselves into when they join forces with Voldemort. Some people are not aware of what Voldemort is doing, not to the full extent anyway. I think that perhaps they think they'll join him but they won't have to do anything to maintain in his service..." He said.

"I think you're right kiddo, but mostly they're just sick," Sirius said and gave Snape a dark look.

"What would you know about that, coming from a sick family and all? I know many that's not sick," Snape replied.

"You do? Maybe because you're sick too then!" said Sirius and Harry mentally cursed. Snape however didn't answer and Harry exhaled the breath he didn't know he held. He saw the opportunity that presented itself. This would be an excellent time to get Snape and Sirius to speak about the topic of Death Eaters without killing each other. He simply needed to steer the conversation in the right way.

"I don't think Snape is sick, and neither do I think that everyone of them are sick, right professor?" he said.

"Indeed. There are different groups of Death Eaters. Those who've been badly burned in life and don't have anything left to lose, or so they think at the time, and then there are those who are insane and like to kill, and those who want power but chose the wrong way to gain it," Snape said. They all knew this wasn't completely accurate in real life, it was incredibly difficult to only point out one reason to why someone would join Voldemort. It was a bit more complicated than that.

"But everyone knows you have to kill if you join Voldemort, right?" Sirius asked.

Snape shook his head and crossed one leg over the other. "Not necessarily. Some think that they'll only have to watch, or do other things like rape and torture or do missions."

"But _everyone _has to kill?" Sirius asked Severus. Snape was quiet for a while.

"Yes everyone has to kill," he finally said. By saying that he also confessed he had killed, but Harry wasn't overly concerned about that. He knew you had to do certain things in life in order to survive and if Snape hadn't killed, he would have been killed. Snape continued. "Everyone has to prove to the Dark Lord that they're truly willing to join him and do whatever means necessary to please him. That's why every new Death Eater has to kill someone by the Lords orders, just before he or she takes the mark," Snape said quietly. Harry almost didn't catch it. He certainly knew why Snape said it quietly. The initiations Voldemort held wasn't something that you gloated over when you were sane. The events were horrible, painful and bloody.

The conversation carried on for half an hour with both Sirius and Severus being civil to each other while talking, the others only listened. After that there was more planning and before they knew it a whole day had passed. _This wasn't so hard after all_ he thought when he walked back to the Gryffindor tower in the early morning. He had both survived a gruesomely boring meeting, with the acceptance of Snape's tales of the Death Eaters, and the fact that he had completed his mission. _I just hope that Darek and Blaise have the same luck I had_, he thought. Well, the two others didn't exactly have that luck when everything came around.

* * *

Darek fumed. Make Snape hug Ryan, right! And how the fuck was he supposed to pull that one off? Use magic? What kind? Imperio? And spend the rest of his life in Azkaban? He didn't think so!

"Watch yourself!" Pansy snarled to him when he walked right into her.

"Watch it yourself!" he sneered. Without waiting for a response he continued up to his dorm. He was just in time to see Blaise beat up his pillow.

"I suppose you've had no luck with your task either?" he asked gloomily and sat down on his own bed while watching Blaise. Blaise just growled and punched his pillow again.

"Alright! That's it big fella, you've had your go for today!" Darek finally decided and walked over and snatched the pillow from Blaise's hand. Blaise started to hit the mirror instead and Darek was horrified.

"No stupid! Don't destroy the mirror! How else am I supposed to see how good looking I am? Here, take the stupid pillow, it's all yours!" he said in a hurry and ran over to stand in front of the mirror protectively. Blaise shrugged and let a narcissistic Malfoy offspring have his way with his mirror while he beat up his pillow again and tortured it real good like a real Slytherin would.

* * *

"Ha-Ryan! Where have you been?"

"Going down the old path again, Hermione? My business is my own," he answered but he wasn't angry.

"She's just asking you know. You don't need to bite her head off!" Ron said defensively. He shrugged.

"So?" he said. Ron opened his mouth to reply but Ryan beat him to it once again.

"Oh please Ron! Think again before something stupid comes out, would you? I don't have time to listen to you trying to communicate all day long. I'll be in the dorm and don't disturb me unless it's important," he said with superiority. He strolled away without a care in the world. Or so it seemed on the outside.

* * *

"Jenning! A word with you, now!" Darek demanded. He had walked down to the common room again after he got tired of watching Blaise abuse his pillow. If Blaise continued the pillow would be so flat that he could just as well sleep without it. But that's Blaise's problem. He had his own to deal with.

"What is it Malfoy?" Jenning asked rudely.

"Watch your tone Sam! I need you to do me a favour. I believe you owe me," he said smoothly. Jenning looked defeated. It was true, Darek had done him a favour once.

"What do you want?" Jennings asked reluctantly. Whatever it was it couldn't be good. Everyone knew you weren't supposed to be indebted to the Malfoys. The favours they asked in return of one was almost never worth the first one anyway.

"A potion. I want one that makes a person do something temporarily. I do believe that your father invents potions, does he not?" Malfoy asked as he pretended to look out of a window, and not talk to Jennings. Darek didn't want to be seen discussing anything with Jennings, the boy had a bad reputation and he didn't want to take part of any gossip.

"Yes."

"Good. I need a potion to make a person follow one command I will tell the person. It shall last for five minutes and be untraceable. Understood?" he asked sharply and glanced at Jennings. The other boy nodded. He was probably relieved since the favour wasn't too bad.

"Yes Malfoy. Is there any special password required for this matter? Or would you like the person to simply do the command once he's drank the potion and you tell him to? Otherwise you could simply let the person drink the potion one day and say the password the next. It would till have the same effect." Darek glared at the boy for stating thing he already knew. Darek cut him off before he could say anything else.

"I want the password in a letter, personally written by your father, unbeknown by anyone else, especially you, and I want it in a sealed envelope. I need it tomorrow morning at five. No exceptions. Is that clear?"

The other one nodded.  
"Crystal. I'll have it ready for you."

"You better!" Darek said before leaving Jannings.

* * *

Meanwhile Blaise had abandoned his pillow beating and was writing a letter.

_Dear D, _

What shall I search for in the object? Any significant patterns, rumours or statements?

Even desired tasks?

Love yours,

B

Blaise was satisfied with his letter. He was covering up his question of what he was supposed to find out about Dumbledore with tricky words. He sent off the letter with Hedwig because she was closest. Satisfied with his achievement for the time being he stole Ryan's invincibility cloak and went out on Dumbledore- hunting.

* * *

"Er, Black Blaze? What cha doin' boy?" Ryan asked when he saw the dog lying half underneath the bed. Only his backside stuck out. Ryan kneeled down to investigate what Black Blaze was doing.

"All this trouble and nothing? You're _sleeping_?" he cried once he was underneath the bed. Black Blaze opened and eye lazily and surveyed him before he closed it lazily. With a sigh typical for dogs he went back to sleep.

"That's it! I'm beat!" Ryan muttered and threw himself down on the bed.

* * *

Darek decided to pay Snape a little visit. He knocked on Snape's door. After a while Snape opened. It was in the middle of the night but he didn't care.

"Malfoy? Do you know what time it is? It's past midnight. What are you doing here and why is it that you and your companions always operate your, whatever business it is that you have, during the night?" Snape hissed. He was clearly angered over being bothered all the time. Who wouldn't be after sitting through a boring order meeting all day? Darek ignored Snape's complaints and pushed past him and sat down gracefully in Snape´s sofa.

"You know Snape, for being such a private and clever man you're talking too much. Oh, and my name is Hudson by the way."

Snape rolled his eyes. "What do you want?" Snape asked and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"_Want_?" Darek repeated and put his black boots on the table. Snape's left eye twitched but he didn't say anything. "Who said that I _want _something? What's wrong with a student visiting his favourite teacher?" he asked innocently. He wasn't fooling anyone and he knew it.

"Perhaps the fact that it's in the middle of the night and you loath me but like any other self respecting human being pretends to like me because I work with your biological father. Anything wrong? No of course not!" Snape said with a voice filled with heavy sarcasm.

Darek lost his smirk. "Alright, I'll cut the bullshit. From now on I only come and see you regarding business matters." Snape sighed. He no longer had any control over the brats surrounding him.

"Fine! Come and visit if you feel like it. I just don't understand why you'd like to do that."

"You might not have noticed but you're the only one who let us Slytherins escape punishments even if we're out after curfew," Darek pointed out. Snape didn't respond to that. What could he say about it anyways?

"I heard from Ryan that you helped him the other night," Darek said casually.

"No," Snape denied with a shake of his head. "I didn't help him, I helped Duff."

"Of course," Darek said smoothly.

Snape pushed himself away from the wall. "I think you should be going now. It is after all after curfew," Snape said meaningful.

Darek nodded and stood up. He knew this was the time to leave. "Yes professor. See you tomorrow in class." Snape nodded his good bye's to him.

* * *

Ryan's cloak was very handy to have. Blaise thought many times over when he walked down in the Slytherin tunnels. Only a short moment ago he had seen Darek walk by in the end of another tunnel but he thought nothing of it. He did have his own mission to concentrate on after all.

_The old man up in the tower is probably asleep in a half moon pj_, Blaise thought tiredly after climbing a hundred stairs. He didn't understand how Ryan could do it every day.

The tricky thing was to get past the Gargoyle. He had no idea what the password could be.

"Open up!" he told it. Of course _that_ didn't help any.

"C'mon now! I'm tired! Have you any idea of just how many stairs I've climbed? Let me the fuck in!" The gargoyle didn't move one inch. Blaise growled and banged his head against the wall. He stood in silence for a while until he backed away from the wall with a scary little smile gracing his handsome face.

"Oh Gargoyle? Yohooooo!" he said sweetly and raised his wand. "Listen carefully now because I'm only telling you this once; Open.Up.Before.I.Blow.You.To. Fucking. Pieces," he said in a scary calm voice and explained to the Gargoyle as if it was a small child he would kill any second. The gargoyle sprung aside quickly. He put down his wand into his pocket.

"I thought so," he said and stepped through.

He moved silently up the stairs. For some reason he felt like he wasn't alone. He made sure that his/Ryans cloak was covering all of him before he silently opened the door and slipped inside soundlessly. He almost gasped when he saw a ring of people. Nobody had noticed him opening the door through. He almost swore our loud when he saw Moody. He knew that the man could see through invincibility cloaks. With no sudden movements he picked up his wand and murmured an old ancient spell. He was now assured that Mad eye Moody could no longer see him no matter how many times he cleaned his magical eye. He was lucky through, Moody could just as well have seen him. He settled down in the corner of the room and just listened.

"Why didn't Potter stay?" Moody asked.

"I believe the dear boy needs his sleep just as much as the rest of the students," Dumbledore said and Blaise grimaced. The fire roared and Snape arrived through it.

"Good, you're back. Who was knokcing on your door at this hour?" Albus asked.

"Just a student needing a potion to sleep," Snape said nonchalantly and sat down. Blaise narrowed his eyes. He could bet anything that it had been Darek who visited Snape and he was certain that Darek didn't need a sleep potion. _Snape must have lied... curious... So, Ryan has been here... good,_ Blaise thought.

"Perhaps now we can discuss Duff Hudson. He's clearly a problem," said Minerva. Dumbledore's eyes steeled a bit.

"That he is," the old man agreed "He is the link that pulls three of my students away from me. Harry is the most important of those three."

"Ron told me that Harry is being very rude to them. He does whatever he feels like and he almost always pull it off without any trouble according to Ron," Arthur informed them.

"I've noticed it too on my lessons. E's with thos' Zabini and Malfoy lads," said Hagrid.

Blaise wrinkled his nose. He never did like the half giant. But for some odd reason Ryan did so he tried to keep as anonymous as possible. Before all this about Duff came out he could bet his life on that the teacher's didn't notice him much, which was how it was supposed to be.

"Severus, it seems like they seek contact with you. Is there anything you'd like to tell us?" Albus asked. Blaise could practically see Snape searching his mind for something to tell them, just to satisfy them.

"There's a dog," Snape said.

"Pardon?"

"A dog. Ryan's got a dog," Snape clarified. Albus looked at him disapprovingly.

"Please call him Harry. I think we all should call the three youngsters by their old names."

"Why?" Sirius asked. He wasn't the only one who was wondering why.

"Too keep something old left in them. It's a bond between them and us. If we cut them we can easily loose them." Sirius looked even more confused then he did before he got his answer.

"What does a name matter?" he asked.

"Quite a lot no matter how strange it might sound. But Severus, you said he has a dog?" Albus asked.

"Yeah. He's got a dog. A flea bitten mongrel! That's what I've found out," Snape spat and Blaise grinned. He knew their dogs would make an impression on Snape eventually.

"Nothing else?" Albus asked, looking slightly disappointed.

"I'm afraid they're not telling me much," Snape said evenly.

_He's lying again_, Blaise thought with surprise. _He's very loyal to Duff. Duff must have impressed his schoolmates during his short time here at Hogwarts_, Blaise mused. He too through Duff was cool, he had always taken good are of him together with Arrow.

Lupin narrowed his eyes when looking at Snape who concentrated on Albus. _He knows Snape is lying,_ Blaise thought but Lupin didn't say anything. _Another loyal person_, Blaise thought. He had always been a good observer because he was interested in people and liked to watch how they interacted with each other. You could learn a hell lot of things if you only sat down and watched others for a little while.

No one else seemed to notice that Snape lied through. The people talked about unimportant things that didn't make a difference for him for another hour.

After that they went parted ways, Dumbledore went to sleep and Blaise returned to his dorm. Darek was already asleep so he sank down in his own bed and tried to stop his thoughts from circling. He had to at least warn the others about Dumbledore's name tactic.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

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* * *

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**SLYHTERIN SORT OF STYLE**

_**-CHAPTER EIGHT-**_

**BETA: **ObuletShadowStalker

**INFO:** www. live journal. com /users/ draycious

* * *

Today was the day when everything would go down, and later they would meet with Duff at Hog's Head and find out what this was really about. They were all tired from the night before; Blaise especially since he had been up the longest.

"Look guys, I know that I'm not supposed to discuss my work with you but you need to know this," Blaise whispered in Potions class. They were all sitting next to each other.

"What is it?" Ryan asked him seriously. It ought to be important if Blaise defied his earlier decision on not sharing information. Blaise looked around them to make sure that everyone was busy working on their potions before he spoke.

"Last night I found out that they'll try a new tactic to bring us 'back to them' as they put it."

Harry rolled his eyes. He supposed it wasn't something he should feel overly worried about.

"Oh. What is that?" Darek asked.

Blaise smirked in a superior way. "They'll call us by our biological names only," he said in a spooky voice. His ice blue eyes shone with mirth.

"That's ridiculous! That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard! What good would it do?" Darek cried out. The class' attention was upon the trio and Ryan decided to improvise in order to save them quickly.

"There is no good reason!" he shouted. "The carrot juice and magnolia would only have an unpleasant odor! There is no use!" Ryan cried quickly to cover up Darek's outburst. It must have helped because the class went back to work with a shrug but Snape's gaze lingered on them for a moment before he too looked away with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Idiot!" Blaise hissed to Darek. Darek didn't argue with that. He looked very angry with himself. Ryan decided to keep a close eye on Snape just in case the man started to spy on them. Sometimes the man was too clever for his own good...

* * *

"Hermione!" Ryan shouted when he saw the girl ahead of him in the corridor after potions. She stopped in surprise and turned to him.

"Ry-Harry?" she said questioningly. He took her by the arm and led her away to an unused classroom. Leading her inside, he put up and silencing charm despite her protests.

"Look Hermione, I know what you and Ron are up to and I am seriously pissed at you for being in on it!" He said angrily. Hermione looked away from him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Harry!" she said weakly.

"Dammit Hermione!" He yelled and slammed his hands down a desk, which made her jump. "Stop fucking calling me Harry! Harry was a creation that I made. He was a person that I made so I could play him! Get it Hermione! Harry never truly existed! He was an act! If you can't accept me for who I am, then you can stop calling yourself my friend! You don't even know me Hermione, you know Harry, not ME! If you can't accept me just let me go! I know that you're reporting to Dumbledore. Stop it!" he yelled and left her crying. He didn't care about her hurt feelings. All he cared about was himself and his interest always came in first place. ( --Here it sounds like he doesn't care about Darek, Blaise, Duff, or even his pets...) He was tired of her and no longer had any desire to remain her friend, after all, he had never truly been interested in being friends with her.

* * *

Darek had received his potion at the exact time as he requested it. The funny thing with Wednesdays were that the whole school had one class six o'clock in the morning before breakfast and after breakfast the second lesson for the day started eight thirty. He had plenty of time to make sure Snape was doused with it before breakfast. He read the password quickly and memorized it before he burned the note. After that he hurried down to the kitchen.

"Dobby!" he yelled.

"Mister Malfoy sir," the house elf answered.

"Listen Dobby, I'm here on Harry Potters request. He wants you to give this Potion to Snape in his coffee this morning. Do you understand me Dobby?" Darek asked because he knew that the house elf would never do anything right unless it was for Harry Potter. Dobby hated him, he knew that since he was viewed as a Malfoy in the elf's eyes.

"Dobby would do anything for Harry Potter!" the elf cried. Darek nodded.

"Good. Now tell me what you are supposed to do," he said to the elf.

"Dobby is supposed to pour the potion in Professor Snape's coffee sir!" the elf responded dutifully.

"Good. Go and do it now Dobby, and don't mention my visit here to anyone. Harry said it was a secret."

"Yes sir!" The house elf cried and bounced away. Darek hurried away to breakfast. It wouldn't do if he missed the show.

He squeezed down between Blaise and Parkinson and watched Ryan across the hall. He felt like dancing. He knew this would work! Blaise seemed to notice that he was up to something because he raised his eyebrows at him but he just shook his head. Blaise accepted it and went back to his breakfast. All he needed to do now was to make eye contact with Snape. That would be easy since the man always felt when someone watched him and usually looked over to see who it was. The old saying 'curiosity killed the cat' would be very fitting now when Snape was stupid enough to look at him. Darek used his skills in mind magic and spoke to Severus via telepathy.

"Good morning Severus. Cherry," he said and watched from afar how Severus eyes went misty. The man stiffened in his seat and awaited Darek's instructions.

"I need you to run over to Ryan and hug him. Run to Ryan Hudson a.k.a Harry Potter and hug him tightly for over one minute!" he ordered.

The whole hall watched how Snape shot out of his chair and ran over to the unsuspecting Gryffindors. Ryan had not yet noticed Snape advance on him so he cried out in shock when the man dragged him out of the chair and hugged him tightly.

Oops, perhaps I was a tad bit enthusiastic in my orders, Darek thought when he saw Ryan fight for breath in Snape's crushing arms. The hall watched in bewilderment as Snape and Ryan just stood there hugging. Some people were murmuring about this being Snape's master plan, secretly squeezing the life out of Potter and when he dies making it look like an accident. Since nobody noticed him Darek took a picture to show Duff later on. Apparently Snape came to his senses because he let go of Ryan so abrupt that Ryan fell to the floor.

For a while Snape just stood there and looking down at Ryan. He was probably trying to understand what the hell had just happened.

"Ow!" said Ryan loudly. Snape kneeled down and whispered something in his ear. Ryan shook his head and Snape looked up and straight at Darek. Darek hid his emotions and looked back innocently. Next Snape looked over to Blaise but he didn't find anything there either so he settled on glaring over at Remus Lupin up at the teachers table instead. Snape stood up and swept wordlessly out the door.

"Your doing I presume," Blaise whispered to him.

"Perhaps," he said and ate his sandwich (breakfast?) while the hall was slowly filled with murmur as everyone tried to figure out what had only just happened.

* * *

Ryan, Darek and Blaise were waiting for Arrow and Duff to show up in the Hog's Head. They had gone through a lot of trouble to be there today. They had to skip classes without making Snape even more suspicious than he already was. When the two agents finally arrived the three teens were dozing of slightly in the dirty old pub.

"There you are! What the hell took you so long?" Darek snapped irritated when he spotted them.

"That's no way to greet your father!" Duff scolded.

"Well you did take your sweet little time to get here. What happened?" Ryan asked.

"We were stuck at the border to England on the west," Duff told them and sat down. Ryan looked at Arrow and thought the man looked pale but otherwise fine. He was glad they had gotten the antidote in time.

"Why? Where have you been?" Blaise asked after he had hugged his father. Duff made himself at home in his chair next to Ryan. Duff was wearing leather pants and a black top.

"Uh, dad, why did you wear that in here?" Ryan asked. It wasn't the usual clothing Duff wore. Duff smiled at them but left it up to Arrow to explain things.

"One question at a time. Now, we were late because the border guards to England's magic society are very suspicious of strangers and people from foreign countries. The fact that we did have some trouble to find our papers didn't help any. We're used to being let through at anytime at the western border. We know the guards there," Arrow explained.

"We came here straight from an undercover assignment for the WCIA so we haven't had the time to change clothes," Duff told them and Ryan noticed that Arrow wore leather pants also.

"Alright then. Why don't you tell us how your tasks went?" Arrow asked and the teens explained what they had done. It took some time but finally they were all done describing how their missions had went.

"What was all this for? It seems unnecessarily to me," Blaise said.

"In one way, yes," Duff confessed and the teens gaped at him. They were not used to do work for nothing.

"What?" Ryan gasped.

"You see, we do have some kind of relationship to Snape, right? It's hard to define it really. We decided to test Snape a bit to see what he is worth. It seems pretty much like he's loyal to us from what we've just heard, isn't that right Arrow?" Duff asked.

"Yes indeed. Lupin seems to like us too, huh? So we thought that we could use them. Get them over to our side and Dumbledore wouldn't suspect a thing!" Arrow exclaimed.

"Well I'm sure it's brilliant and all that but I'm not sure it will work. Sure, Snape is loyal to us but the question is for how long? Besides that he's only loyal to Duff, not to the rest of us," Ryan argued. He didn't want his father and Arrow to commit the mistake of trusting Snape. The man was known for changing sides all the time. Whenever he got an offer he couldn't resist he didn't seem to care about past commitments.

Arrow nodded. They had taken that fact in consideration, they weren't WCIA agents for nothing. "That's true, but we just need to make Snape realize that we are indeed quite the same all of us, if he likes Duff he'll like us... He just needs to stop seeing Malfoy and Potter in you," Arrow reasoned. Ryan wasn't quite satisfied with this new situation but he supposed he had to accept it.

"What about Lupin?" Blaise asked.

"I think we'll wait with him, just watch him for a while," Duff said thoughtfully. Ryan understood that they wanted to concentrate on one man first, to make sure he joins before attempting to sway another one.

"Okay. But what was this all about? I mean what goal did we achieve with Snape hugging Ryan against his will?"

"Yeah! And making Black and Snape agree on something!" Ryan added.

"And following Dumbledore!" Blaise said.

The two grown men shared looks before they nodded to each other.

"We though of using Black too, but we can only use one of them if the two of them can't co-operate. So we decided to make them have a civil talk with each other for once, just to see if there is a small possibility that the two of them can stop arguing and actually get along, or if they're totally hopeless."

"And?" Ryan asked Duff when Duff quieted down. "What's the conclusion?" Duff sighed and drank some butterbeer Harry had ordered earlier to them all.

"We don't know," Arrow sighed and Duff nodded in agreement.

"The two of them needs some more time, a lot of it actually. They have potential but they're too goddamn stubborn to make peace." Duff added.

"Ok, so we wait with Black, that's cool. What was that about Snape hugging Ryan?" Blaise asked. Ryan nodded, that's what he wanted to know.

"Snape needs to burry the whole I- hate- Potter-thing. We decided that if we could get Snape used to touching Ryan, the sooner he can realize that he isn't James. Why? Because if it would have been James Snape would have found himself cursed faster than he could blink," Arrow said.

Duff nodded and took over the conversation.

"Yeah, it might seem farfetched, but studies that have been done have shown that this method actually works in the long run. We want Snape to get used to Ryan's presence. From what I've gathered so far he is making progress, at least he didn't fly off the handle when he realised he had hugged Ryan in front of the whole school. The old Snape would have thrown a tantrum…" Duff paused and scratched his head. He leaned back on his chair and looked around them quickly to make sure no one was listening. They had spells up around them so no one could hear them, but still, Duff was always cautious. "Regarding the following of Dumbledore… we suspect that he has started to build up an army and that he has some unspeakable affairs going on. We were hoping for a secret room or something to be revealed, but since Dumbledore held an Order meeting he didn't have much time for himself. From what you've told us Blaise he seems fairly innocent," Arrow sighed.

"Dumbledore's Army? What the heck? Have you been listening to Ministry gossip?" Ryan asked them incredulously.

Arrow shook his head in denial. "No, but it would make sense, don't you think? Dumbledore can't fight Voldemort with only Order members. They're too few, aren't they?" Arrow said.

Ryan shrugged. He knew Arrow was right. "I guess. So what is your next mission?" Ryan asked, changing the subject.

"It's Snape actually. We need to talk to him. Can you arrange a meeting for us with him? But make sure he doesn't know who he's meeting," Duff warned him.

"Uh, sure. When is it suitable for you?" Darek asked.

"Sometime tomorrow. Just check his schedule when he has his free time, OK?" Arrow asked.

"Yeah, fine. So are we going to stay with you or leave you alone with Snape?" Blaise said.

"Lead Snape to the shrieking Shack and leave the rest to us. Once we're done you can escort him back to the castle from the whomping willow, Ok?" Duff asked.

"Sure but you'll lead him out of there then?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah. We'll only take him there to get some privacy, there is no real need for it. We want to get Snape in 'the mood' if you know what I mean," said Arrow and blinked at them mischievously. Ryan laughed together with the others.

"Will we get to see you after you're done with Snape or are you going back to the US?" Darek asked. Arrow and Duff shared another look. Ryan was itching to find out what they were keeping from them. His brother seemed to notice as well.

"We'll stay here for a week. Remember the cave Black used to camp in?" Duff asked Ryan.

"Yeah," he nodded. He wondered what this led to.

"We'll be staying there. I doubt anyone would even think about finding us there," Duff said smugly. Ryan's eyes widened.

"In there? It's like the stone age in there!" he said.

"You're right about the stone, son," Duff smiled wryly. Duff was used to sleeping out in the nature whenever he had to.

"Why do you want stay there? It's not like you're wanted like Black was!" Blaise protested.

"No but we are agents that can't afford to be seen right now. We suspect that a spy for Voldemort is after our butts, so we need to be very careful and stay low," Duff told them seriously and Arrow gave an agreeing grunt. Duff also used a final tone when he spoke, so no one asked anything further about it. Neither of the adults seemed very forthcoming with the information.

"Alright I got it. Do we need to deliver food to you as well?" Ryan asked, remembering that they had to do that for Black.

"No, that's alright. We can take care of that ourselves. You can come visit us of course, anytime you feel like it, but make sure that no one follows you," Arrow warned. Duff and Arow always warned them about all sorts of things, even if the three teenagers knew these thing very well already.

"Alright then. We need to get back to school before they discover our absence. We'll get Snape to you around 5 o'clock, I know that he has free time then since last year's Occlumency lessons took place around then," Ryan said as he stood up and dragged Darek and Blaise with him.

"That's fine by us. We'll see you then," Duff said and hugged them for a last time before the trio headed back to school.

"Is it just me or do you think that they left something out about being hunted down?" Ryan said thoughtfully while they walked.

"I noticed that too. Do you by any chance think it's because they don't want to worry us?" Blaise asked the other two, looking at them. Darek and Ryan were immediately reminded of what they had done a few days before; they had kept Arrow's injury away from Blaise so he wouldn't worry. The Hudson brothers shared a guilty look.

"Maybe, but it could be because it has to do with a secret mission and they can't tell us," Darek finally said.

"It's better to not dwell on it," Harry decided. Personally he was going crazy over all the riddles and secrets kept from him." Time will tell. "What we need to do now is to split up and make sure than we have our butts covered so that Snape doesn't find out about the meeting we just had," Ryan said when they walked into the entrance hall.

"I've been waiting for you," Snape's cold voice said from a far corner and they jumped as one.

_Oh damn_, Ryan thought.

* * *

"Severus, I didn't fancy seeing you here," Darek said quickly in a smooth voice. Snape sneered at them.

"I suppose you wouldn't. I am however concerned over your departure. I would have thought that someone such as yourselves would be able to do it unnoticed," Snape said quickly in a dark voice.

"So did we," Blaise murmured and Ryan elbowed him.

"We were just talking to someone," Ryan said nonchalantly and tired to wake Snape's curiosity since that always made the man loose at the end of the day. He succeeded.

"And whom might this someone be?" Snape asked.

"Someone you know." Blaise and Darek looked at him warningly. Blaise gave him a 'what the fuck?' look.

"Humor me," Snape said sharply.

"No one special, just the same old Duff you know," said Harry lazily. He saw Snape's interest was sky high now. Blaise and Darek both pinched his arm from behind but Harry ignored them. He could pull this off, he was sure of it.

"Oh really, and what might this person want to talk to you for? Is he perhaps... staying over night?" Snape inquired.

"As a matter of fact he is. You know, it's funny you mention it because he is dying to meet with you." Blaise had by now realised where he was going with this so he now stood at Harry's side, looking passively at Snape.

"Funny indeed, I never knew I had a meeting on my schedule," Snape sneered.

Harry snorted. "You certainly do now. We'll show you the way of course," Darek said. He too had caught on. Snape looked thoughtful.

"How do I know that this isn't just some cheep trick to avoid detention?" he asked.

"You don't know that, do you? You'll just have to wait and see," Blaise said deviously. Snape glared at him.

"When is this meeting you're talking about?" he asked Harry.

"You'll see. We'll take care of it. All you need to do, is be yourself... or perhaps a little less than yourself," Ryan said when he saw Snape's death glare.

"That's all. Come along Slyth brothers, we have to get some work done..." Darek said cheerfully and they went to Derek's private room.

"So now that's taken care of. It wasn't exactly how I'd imagined we'd tell Snape but it will do," Ryan told the others.

"Yeah, I thought about just kidnapping him and dumping him in the same room as Duff. That way Duff would have the upper hand while Snape was trying to recover," Blaise said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter now. My concern lays in the fact that we no longer have a spy in Voldemort's ranks. I think we need to do something about that..." Ryan said slowly.

Blaise shook his head.

"We do have one; you... You see some meetings in visions, but not often enough and not whole meetings. The one with the best odds in succeeding to be a Death Eater among us three would be you Darek, after all, that's what is expected of you by other people... I too have a small chance but yours shy high considering your father," Blaise said.

"I'm aware of that, but I remember dad saying that we shouldn't be spies in that way. Dad said that they would fix someone else to spy very soon, like Snape for example. I know that Lucius is also very eager to add me to the ranks but I've worked very hard my whole life to avoid that," Darek said and the others nodded. They were very aware of that fact.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about Snape for a while there, do you think he'll join?" Blaise asked.

"Yes. I think so... I mean come on! Just look at him! Every time someone mentions Duff's name his ears are literally growing bigger! He is so interested in him it's almost sick. I wonder if he's gay or something?" Ryan asked thoughtfully. Blaise and Darek smirked.

"He'd better not be or Duff will throw a fit," Blaise said.

* * *

The next day Ryan, Darek and Blaise walked down into the dungeons to fetch Snape.

"Snape? Can I have a word with you," Ryan asked of the man.

"What?" Snape snarled. He appeared to be in a shitty mood, so nothing was unusual there.

"You'll have to follow us now," Blaise informed him. Darek grabbed Snape's arm when the man protested.

"Hush Snape! Do you want to draw attention to ourselves?" Ryan hissed. Snape wisely shut up but he kept glaring at them as if he thought that could do them any harm. Ryan took some pleasure in throwing Snape into the whomping willow.

"Follow the tunnel!" he said just before the hole shut. The three of them could hear Snape scream and curse at them but they didn't care. They had done their part. Now it was up to Duff and Arrow to pull off the deal.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

**SLYTHERIN SORT OF STYLE**

_**-CHAPTER NINE-**_

**BETA 1: **Syvixxe

**BETA2: **Kiritsu

**INFO:** www. live journal. com users /draycious

* * *

Duff looked up from his newspaper when he heard someone scream down the end at the tunnel. The scream was loud enough for him to hear even while being inside the told house. There was no doubt in his mind of who it could be. He knew only one person who could scream and curse in that particular way, without sounding like a child throwing a tantrum. 

"That must be our guest, don't you think?" he said lazily to Arrow, who was half lying on the broken bed. He was still pale and almost asleep, the illness the curse had caused him to feel had really taken its toll. Duff was worried but he didn't show it.

"Yes, a bit sooner than expected but that doesn't matter," Arrow replied and sat up slowly and stretched, as if he was in pain. Duff could imagine Arrow still felt sore in muscles and organs, but as usual the other man refused to acknowledge it. Arrow had always been the kind of man who took the pain and shut up about it, he never complained.

"No, it doesn't. So how do you suppose we'll take him on?" Duff asked. They hadn't really discussed it before since it had been the least of their worries. They had more problems with lying low and getting rid of the people looking for them.

"Do what you feel like," said Arrow with a small smile. Duff gave him a mirror smile.

"I think we need to do something to shock him or distract his thoughts…" Duff said thoughtfully. Arrow's smile widened.

"I have an idea," he said wickedly.

"Oh?" Duff asked with a raised eyebrow. He still wore his leather pants even if they were a bit dusty from living in the shack and often sitting directly on the floor. He liked the fact that Arrow finally said something to show interest in what was going on, it meant the man was feeling better. Duff had no problems with taking care of both of them, but it had worried him that Arrow let him run the business without any complaints.

"Well yes…" Arrow said slowly. They could still hear Snape cursing away, but now it seemed closer. "Have you ever thought about what makes Snape embarrassed?" Arrow asked him.

"Er, no?" Duff said questioningly. He didn't know where this was going but he trusted Arrow to have a valid point.

"Well, sex actually."

"What?" Duff asked confused. Snape and sex just didn't fit together. The slime ball was just a too big of a turn off.

"If we begin a false conversation, meant for his ears of course, but he doesn't know it, don't you think he'll stay outside and wait for us to be quiet?" Arrow asked and Duff nodded. It sounded just like the man he knew. Snape had always been too curious for his tastes.

"That sounds like him," he agreed reluctantly. Arrow smirked.

"Exactly; and what if we 'discover' him listening in on us before he shows himself? Don't you think _that _will make him embarrassed?" Arrow asked with a smug look. Duff rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, why not. But we better begin now. He'll be here any second."

Arrow patted the place beside him on the bed. Duff went over and sat down with a small fear that the bed would finally collapse under both their weights. It looked worse for fears, and while he rather not push it he moved closer to Arrow.

Arrow gave him another wicked grin, and so their made up conversation began. They didn't have to talk it through; they were tied by their hip as it where so they just winged it like always.

**Snape POV**

'Bloody brats,' he thought. He hated this place; he had done so ever since he had seen the hairy half-breed idiot Lupin as a werewolf down here. He had almost been killed!

Snape began to walk. He listened for sounds but he couldn't hear anything but his footsteps. That in itself was made him a bit uneasy, especially since he knew that there were supposed to be two men nearby. He couldn't imagine why else the brats had pushed him down here, surely they knew he could get out if only he wanted to? No, their parents must be nearby.

He frowned a bit and walked a bit faster. He entered the creepy old house and when he didn't hear anything he walked upstairs and made sure to jump over the step that he knew creaked from the last time he had been there.

He figured they'd be in the bedroom since that was the only room that wasn't completely torn apart by Lupin the wolf.

He froze when he heard voices. His instincts took over and he let them. Snape snuck over to the door and listened carefully. Perhaps he could catch something interesting…

"I want you to be my bed lover…" he heard Arrow say. Snape blanched. Did he just hear that?

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I am not sure that Darek and Ryan would like it."

"I don't think they'd mind at all.

"Why not?" Duff asked this time.

"I just know. Please?"

"Well…" Duff said slowly. "Alright… but I'm on top." Snape pulled a face. He couldn't believe his ears. He briefly wondered if he should get the hell out of there and forget what he heard.

"Come on then, show me what you've got!"

Snape blushed deeply when he heard the unmistakable sounds of kissing and moaning. When the bed creaked he almost ran away. He was about to when suddenly a hand grabbed the back of his robe.

**Normal POV**

"Oh no, I don't think so Snape. I would like you to join us," Duff whispered huskily in his ear and Snape shuddered. Snape spluttered when he was led into the room. A shirtless Arrow lay on the bed and grinned at him. Duff lifted Snape and dropped him unceremoniously on the bed. Arrow held him still while Duff crawled over to Snape and sat down on him…

"Let go of me!" Snape spluttered and tried to wriggle out of their grip on him.

"Nah, I like you just the way you are…" Arrow said lazily and ran a finger down Snape's shin.

Snape tried once more to wriggle away but froze when Arrow moaned and threw his head back with a look of unmistakable pleasure.

"Oh yes Snape, keep doing that!" Arrow said. Snape looked around for a possible exit. He had been in many dangerous situations but never quite in one of these before… he had no idea how to get out. In his current position he was unable to reach his wand. He was in a room with not one but two fully trained wizards, which, by the way, were very powerful. Enough so to make Dumbledore pale once in a while. Duff subtly slipped behind Snape and lifted him up slightly so he could hold the black haired man against his chest.

"I demand that you free me immediately!" Snape cried.

"Now, where's the fun in that?" Arrow asked and looked at Duff.

"Yeah," Duff agreed. "I'm sure you'll see things our way once we're through with you. "

When Duff and Arrow's hands began to find their way all over Snape's body until they reached a private place Snape said what they had been waiting for.

"I'll do anything!"

Duff and Arrow looked at each other, silently asking each other if Snape had had enough of their fun.

"Anything?" Duff repeated smugly but Snape missed his tone because he was occupied in other ways, such as trying to fend off Arrow's roaming hands.

"Yes!" Snape said desperately and smacked Arrow's hand away from his privates.

"Like working for us?" Arrow asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, anything…" Snape was acting the precise opposite from his usual self, it was quite entertaining really. Funny how the man would panic like this, the man was not easily broken but if you pushed the right bottoms… The thing with Voldemort was that the snake condemned sex and rapes, so the Death Eaters never tortured anyone through sex, so Snape was left defenseless against that kind of approach. Duff knew that, being a Death Eater spy himself.

"Alright," Arrow said with a shrug and Snape relaxed. "Although, I don't think you've grasped it yet so perhaps you need a little something to remind you…" he continued and Snape's face was downright comical with the horror written all over it.

* * *

**LATER**

"I'm bored," Ryan announced from his place on Darek's bed.

"So?" Blaise asked.

"I wanna do something."

"What do you have in mind?" Darek asked and put his book down on his lap. He looked at his brother. He didn't quite know what to make of his current mood, but based on experience he knew a bored Ryan was never a good thing.

"I don't know, anything would do… Perhaps sneaking out of school?" Ryan said and sat up slightly.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea, not with Duff and dad being near us, if they need our help we won't be here," Blaise said. Ryan turned to the other boy.

"Oh please! You know just as well as I do that they're very capable to take care of themselves and if not they've got Snape," Ryan said and rolled his eyes.

"I've voiced my opinion," Blaise said in an even voice. Blaise never rose to challenges or arguments, Ryan was the leader among the three of them, and Blaise never challenged Ryan just for the fuck of it. Blaise would only calmly make an input and voice his opinion but he left it up to Ryan to make the final decision. Both Ryan and Blaise looked over at Darek. Now, Darek was usually the one who rose to Ryan's verbal challenges and the two of them could get caught in pretty heated arguments sometimes.

"What?" he said. Blaise looked meaningfully at him and Darek sighed.

"I agree with both of you…"

"How can you do that?" Ryan cried. He had expected Darek to settle it for them. Blaise was usually the one who didn't take sides whenever Darek and he had a fight.

"Well… I want to go away but still I think it's risky…" Darek trailed off and sucked on his bottom lip.

"So fucking what? Can't we ask dad and Arrow? If they say it's alright we'll go?" Ryan asked. Darek stood up and stretched his long legs.

"Let's go then," he said and put on a robe.

"Blaise, you're alright with that?" Ryan asked the dark haired pretty boy as he stood up.

Blaise shrugged noncommittally. "Yeah, sure, why not. I'm not exactly having a blast staring at the wall during the evenings when I can be elsewhere and get myself laid," he replied with a smirk, telling the others he was cool with it. Ryan nodded absently as he too began to get dressed. He decided to take one of Darek's robes because they looked better on him.

"Hey! That's mine!" Darek said.

"Point?" Ryan asked with a smirk. Darek glared and shrugged.

"Just don't ruin it; I'm very fond of that one."

"You're found of every piece of cloth you own Darek," Blaise reminded him.

"Oh shut up!" Darek pouted as Ryan dragged him out of the room by his sleeve.

* * *


End file.
